Altar of Fire Viewing Guide
0:00 These are priests, chanting verses from the Vedas.
1:10 Father is teaching son the Vedas. His memorization of the sacred texts is aided by learning movements of the head and chanting/music that go with the words. Indeed, the sitar or Indian guitar was invented to assist the memorization and recitation of the Vedas.
2:20 “This film presents part of a much fuller record of the Agnicayana or Atiratra. A Vedic ritual of sacrifice, it was performed, perhaps for the last time, in April, 1975, by Namubuditi Brahmans in Panjal, a village in Kerala, southwest India. In relative isolation and through the centuries this Nambuditi community has remained faithful to its Vedic heritage. The twelve-day Agnicayana ritual requires the participation of seventeen priests, and the event is preceded by several months of preparation.”
3:00 The “patron” or sacrificer pays to have the sacrifice done in order that he may receive strength, wealth, sons, and immortality. The ritual is made personal and he is incorporated into the ritual by building the temporary structure in which is takes place, and the altars in it, in relation to the man’s measurements. This is the origin of geometry in India.
3:30 The Vedic enclosure is temporary, unlike the later permanent Hindu temples.
3:50 One end of the enclosure represents the home of the sacrificer and the round altar represents the kitchen fire.
4:15 The priest says that according to the Rg Veda, the man who performs Agnicayana Atiratra at least one hundred times rose up to heaven as a result of drinking Soma (Quick camera shot of the soma plant.)
4:45 A Brahmin is eligible for the Soma ritual only if he keeps three sacred fires burning in his home throughout his life. (Pictures of moving the three sacred fires from his home to the ritual site).
5:15 The domestic fire is used to cook oblations (sacrifices). The southern fire is used to ward off evil influences. The sacrificial fire is used to make oblations.
5:50 All rites are performed on behalf of the sacrificer.
6:15 Priests call the gods down to earth to partake of the oblations. The offerings are poured into the fire and Agni transmits them to the gods.
7:00 The only woman in the ritual is the wife of the sacrificer. She is hidden from view by a parasol (umbrella)
7:10 Purusha is a primeval person with a thousand heads. He is variously identified as the sun, Agni, or Prajapati, the creator god who created the world by his own dismemberment. His pieces became parts of the universe. In the construction of the altar, the creator god is reborn and so is the sacrificer himself.
7:40 Beginning on the 4th day, one layer of the altar is consecrated each day.
8:00 “The education concentrates on memory. You need not understand the contents of the mantra, just say them in the correct way.”
8:10 Before sunrise on the tenth day, soma plants are mashed.
8:30 The purified soma is celebrated in chants and recitations.
9:10 In a pot, water is sent back to the ocean. (Picture of a Brahmin throwing a pot.)
9:40 The priest tells the sacrificer inside the Mahadevi (the ritual enclosure), “Don’t cut yourself off from heaven.” Outside the Mahadevi he is told, “Don’t cut yourself off from the world.”
10:20 Originally the ritual involved the sacrifice of fourteen goats. The Brahmins decided to avoid goat sacrifice, and used a substitute instead.
11:40 Once again the gods are called to accept the offering. Each priest has his own cup.
12:40 On the final morning a priest makes two copious oblations to Indra, king of the gods.
13:10 Soma implements are carried to a bathing place. For the first time since consecration, the patron and his wife bathe and put on new clothes.
14:55 The sacred enclosure and much of its contents must be abandoned to Agni. (The priests set the enclosure on fire). The patron returns home with his fire implements so as to perform the morning and evening fire worship for the rest of his life.
15:45 Over the last century, the tradition of Vedic sacrifices has weakened. The Nambuditis, concerned with the disappearance of their Vedic heritage, organized a final Agnicayana ritual to which outsiders were invited for the first time.
16:05 One of the oldest rituals of humankind has probably been performed for the last time. Its preservation for three thousand years is due to the dedication of Vedic Brahmins to the culture of their forbears.