![]() ![]() The sacrificer enters, symbolically cleanses himself or herself, with water, joins the homa ritual, gods invited, prayers recited, conch shell blown. With hymns sung, the fire is started, offerings collected. The altar and mandapa is consecrated by a priest, creating a sacred space for the ritual ceremony, with recitation of mantras. The first step in a homa ritual is the construction of the ritual enclosure (mandapa), and the last step is its deconstruction. Ī ritual space of homa, the altar is temporary and movable. While very large vedis are occasionally built for major public homas, the usual altar may be as small as 1 × 1 foot square and rarely exceeds 3 × 3 feet square. This fire-altar is invariably built in square shape. ![]() The fire-altar ( vedi or homa/havan kunda) is generally made of brick or stone or a copper vessel, and is almost always built specifically for the occasion, being dismantled immediately afterwards. The sequence of homa ritual events similarly, from beginning to end, are structured around the principles of symmetry. ![]() The homa ritual's altar (fire pit) is itself a symmetry, most often a square, a design principle that is also at the heart of temples and mandapas in Indian religions. It often combines fire and water, burnt offerings and soma, fire as masculine, earth and water as feminine, the fire vertical and reaching upwards, while the altar, offerings and liquids being horizontal. The Vedic fire ritual, at the core of various homa ritual variations in Hinduism, is a "bilaterally symmetrical" structure of a rite. The homa ritual grammar is common to many sanskara (rite of passage) ceremonies in various Hindu traditions. The homa-style Vedic sacrifice ritual, states Musashi Tachikawa, was absorbed into Mahayana Buddhism and homa rituals continue to be performed in some Buddhist traditions in Tibet, China and Japan. The homa ritual practices were observed by different Buddhist and Jaina traditions, states Phyllis Granoff, with their texts appropriating the "ritual eclecticism" of Hindu traditions, albeit with variations that evolved through medieval times. This Vedic tradition split into śrauta (śruti-based) and Smarta ( Smṛti-based). The Vedic ritual consisted of sacrificial offerings of something edible or drinkable, such as milk, clarified butter, yoghurt, rice, barley, an animal, or anything of value, offered to the gods with the assistance of fire priests. A śrauta ritual is a form of quid pro quo where through the fire ritual, a sacrificer offered something to the gods and goddesses, and the sacrificer expected something in return. The yajñā or fire sacrifice became a distinct feature of the early śruti rituals. If sun is satisfied, heaven is satisfied. If eye is satisfied, the sun is satisfied. If Prana is satisfied, the eye is satisfied. ![]() Therefore the first food which a man may take, The Sanskrit word homa (होम) is from the root hu, which refers to "pouring into fire, offer, sacrifice". In modern times, a homa tends to be a private ritual around a symbolic fire, such as those observed at a wedding. Ī homa is also called yajna in Hinduism, sometimes for larger public fire rituals, or jajnavidhana or goma in Buddhism. Homa rituals remain an important part of many Hindu ceremonies, and variations of homa continue to be practiced in current-day Buddhism, particularly in parts of Tibet and Japan. The practice spread from India to Central Asia, East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is rooted in the Vedic religion, and was adopted in ancient times by Buddhism and Jainism. The fire is the agent, and the offerings include those that are material and symbolic such as grains, ghee, milk, incense and seeds. A homa is sometimes called a "sacrifice ritual" because the fire destroys the offering, but a homa is more accurately a " votive ritual". The grihasth keeps different kinds of fire including one to cook food, heat his home, amongst other uses therefore, a Yajna offering is made directly into the fire. In the Vedic Hinduism, a homa ( Sanskrit: होम) also known as havan, is a fire ritual performed on special occasions by a Hindu priest usually for a homeowner (" grihastha": one possessing a home). ![]()
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