Dipa

(“lamp”) The twelfth of the sixteen traditional upacharas (“offerings”) given to
a deity as part of worship, following the
model of treating the deity as an honored guest. In this action, the deity is
given an offering of light by waving a
lighted lamp before it. This rite more
commonly goes by the name of arati, a
word that is often used to denote worship in general. The underlying motive
here, as for all the upacharas, is to show
one’s love for the deity, and to minister
to the deity’s needs.