Charanamrit or "Holy Water" was water in which Prem Rawat who calls himself Maharaji ("Great King"), or Guru Maharaj Ji as he called himself before the early 1980's, had bathed or at least bathed his feet. To ensure that Mr Rawat wasn't overly fatigued by this need to provide the "holy water" the bath water was diluted with distilled water again and again and again and then bottled in small vials and sent out to premie communities all over the world.

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In August 2009, a US citizen who had been a follower of Rawat's for over 30 years and had lived in his ashrams until their closure in the early 1980's recalled the use of charanamrit in satsang meetings.

Before satsang or just before the singing of Arti to Guru Maharaji at the end of satsang, one or several devotees would retreat to the kitchen to prepare an Arti tray, typically a large, round silver platter with a ghee candle in the middle that was surrounded by flowers, flower petals, dried flowers, etc.; perhaps colorful leaves in the fall, pine cones or other natural items of beauty. On some occasions, especially for larger gatherings of devotees, several Arti trays were prepared.

Ghee candles - cotton balls dipped in clarified butter and molded into the shape and size of Hershey Kisses - were often prepared ahead of time in batches and kept in the refrigerator until needed.

Just before the singing of Arti to Guru Maharaji, the devotees who prepared the Arti trays would offer them to other devotees at random. These randomly selected devotees would then move to the front of the satsang room and stand before an altar or stage dedicated to Guru Maharaji.

During the singing of Arti to Guru Maharaji, the devotees holding the Arti trays would swing the Arti trays and lit ghee candles back and forth, often raising them in a full circular motion as a passionate expression of devotion to Guru Maharaji.

On rare occasions, aspirants or even guests were inadvertently selected to swing the Arti trays. It was funny to watch them.

Altars and stages dedicated to Guru Maharaji typically consisted of a special chair for him to sit on, a decorative pillow for his holy lotus feet to rest upon, and at least one large, ornately framed photograph of Guru Maharaji above his chair.

Several smaller framed photographs of Guru Maharaji, Mataji, the Holy Mother of Creation, and other members of the Holy Family often accompanied the larger photograph of Guru Maharaji, along with other decorative items such as flowers and perhaps even a small table with a covered glass of water for Guru Maharaji to drink.

During the singing of Arti to Guru Maharaji, devotees worshipped and prayed to Guru Maharaji, clasping their hands together in all manner of prayer symbolism while dancing for joy and waving their outstretched arms in all manner of devotional expression.

Also during the singing of Arti to Guru Maharaji, musically and rhythmically inclined devotees would play guitars, bongos, blocks, bells, tambourines and any other types of picayunes that happened to be on hand; sometimes loudly and boisterously and sometimes solemnly, depending on the mood of the evening's satsang.

It was hard to play blocks solemnly.

After the singing of Arti to Guru Maharaji, devotees would do "pranam" to Guru Maharaji by getting down on their hands and knees and bowing in the direction of the altar or stage. On any given evening, at least several devotees would do full pranam by fully prostrating themselves on the floor face down before Guru Maharaji.

During the pranam segment of the Arti celebration, which typically lasted for a very long minute or so, any devotee who felt so moved would occasionally lead a prayer by speaking a line that everyone else would repeat:

"Oh my Guru Maharaji. You are all powerful. There is nothing in this world that you cannot do. Please guide me. And protect me. Forever and ever. Bhole Shri Satgurudev Maharaj Ki Jai!"

After the pranam segment of the Arti celebration, the devotees who held the Arti trays would pass them before each sitting or kneeling devotee, sometimes having to step over devotees who were still in the full pranam position. Each devotee would hold their outstretched hands over the burning ghee candle for a moment and then place their slightly warmed hands over their heart or on their forehead or both in the certainty of receiving Guru Maharajis' divine grace, special favor, blessings and protection.

Another devotee holding the container of charanamrit would follow the devotees with the Arti trays and place a teaspoon full of charanamrit in each devotees outstretched, cupped hands. Each devotee would then drink the charanamrit and place their still moistened cupped hands on their forehead in the certainty of receiving even more of Guru Maharaji's divine grace, special favor, blessings and protection.

When the supply of charanamrit ran low, the container was simply replenished with distilled water until a fortunate devotee came across a fresher batch. Rumor had it that due to the "homeopathic effect," diluted charanamrit never lost its potency.

On some occasions, yet another devotee would follow the devotees with the Arti trays and the container of charanamrit with another type of "Arti" tray prepared ahead of time that held "Prasad", an offering of food that had first been offered to Guru Maharaji. Prasad typically consisted of various slices of fruit, small pieces of cake or other types of pastry.

The "real" Prasad that every devotee dreamed of, of course, was food taken directly from Guru Maharaji's plate.

Upon the conclusion of the singing of Arti to Guru Maharaji, doing pranam to Guru Maharaji, the passing of the various Arti and Prasad trays and the drinking of charanamrit, the evening's satsang festivities and the Arti celebration ended quietly as devotees retrieved their children from child care, gathered their shoes and blissfully went on their way.

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