śrī gaṃgā jī kī āratī (oṃ jaya gaṃge mātā)

The better known of the two Hindi āratīs to the Ganges, in the metre of Om Jai Jagadīśa Hare and opening 'Om jaya Gaṅge mātā, maiyā jaya Gaṅge mātā', with that line returning after every couplet. Where the companion āratī reaches for her origins and her theology, this one keeps to what a person standing at the bank can see and ask for, which is why it is the one that is actually sung: whoever meditates on you obtains the fruit he has wished for; your light is like the moon's and your water comes clear; whoever falls into your shelter, that person crosses over. The plainness is deliberate and the vocabulary is small enough for anyone in the crowd to join at the refrain. It is kept distinct from the other by its opening line, which is how people search for it.