Bageshwar Dham Sarkar

What does bhakti really mean beyond rituals?

Bhakti means doing God's work

Taking a mala, doing a path (recitation) and wearing a tilak is aastha (faith), not bhakti. Bhakti is doing what Bhagwan did, doing His work.

The meaning of bhakti is that we do what Bhagwan did. We do His work. This is bhakti.