🙏Hindu

About Hindu Prayers

Mantra, stotra, chalisa, sahasranama, aarti, bhajan, suktam, shloka. English-language sources use these words more or less interchangeably, and they are not interchangeable — they name different forms, in different languages, from different centuries, doing different jobs. A mantra is a formula whose sound is held to be efficacious in itself, usually Sanskrit and usually short. A stotra is a composed hymn of praise, often by a named author working in an elaborate metre. A chalisa is forty verses in a spoken vernacular, medieval or later, and almost always narrative in feel. A sahasranama is a list of a thousand names, recited as a list. An aarti is a song sung while lamps are circled — across most of North India at the close of worship, though the position is regional, and in Maharashtra a Ganesha aarti opens a puja as well as ending it. This page sets out what each form is, when it emerged, what language it is in, and where it sits in an actual sequence of worship — which is the fastest way to make sense of a text you have been handed.