Little lights
December 11, 2006
Towards the end of the yagya each day, the priests would prepare a series of small lamps made out of dough with a wick and a little bit of ghee. They would be arranged in specific places around the homa kund (yagya fire pit), resting on a banana leaf with a mixture of cooked lentils mixed with yogurt and a small piece of fruit mixture (called pancha amritam).
I asked what was going on and they told me that these were offerings for minor gods who didn’t qualify for the “big fire”. They went to each one, recited some mantras, offered some water and moved to the next one. Unfortunately I don’t recall exactly which deities, although I recognized a few. I think Kubera was one