Reviving Ancient Tradition

Agni is not only fire and the name of a god, but also the name of the Agni-cayana ceremony itself, and the name of the bird-shaped altar constructed during the ceremony. Some leading Namboodiris were concerned about the weakening and possible disappearance of their Vedic traditions. I began to urge that their largest ceremony, the 12 day Athiratra-agnicayana, which had occurred in 1956 and had never been witnessed by outsiders, should be performed once more so that it could be filmed and recorded. The Agnicaayana was performed from April 12, to 24 in 1975.

Why should I a philosopher and Sanskritist, have spent ears of my life with an obsolete ceremony? Am I weary of the present? Or am I merely tired of words and meanings, and have turned to sounds and activities? If I look at the issue negatively, this may be so, though my turning is still a turning of words. However, from a positive point of view, I have long stood in awe of this unique survival, so archaic yet so sophisticated, so close to the early history of man and so lovingly preserved through millennia that elsewhere saw the birth and death of entire civilizations.

While pyramids, temples, cathedrals, and skyscrapers were build and fell into decay, languages and religions came and went, and innumerable was were fought, the Vedas and their ritual continues to be transmitted by word of mouth, from teacher to pupil, and from father to son. What a triumph of the human spirit over the limitations of matter and the physical body! A continuity verging on immortality – though not of any individual person. And so I found myself involved not merely in the past, but in the present and the future as well….

The time had come for the leading Namboodiri ritualists to be willing, indeed eager, to reveal and elucidate to me these cultural treasures which had always been hidden from outsiders. Here was a unique opportunity indeed a responsibility to continue the oral tradition by means of a book.

To the extent that there is obsession in ritual performance, its explanation does not seem to pose much of a problem.

An activity that has to be performed painstakingly and in accordance with strict rules can easily become obsessive. Ritualists may be obsessed by rites, stockbrokers by the market, or mathematicians by proofs. I have been obsessed by the Agnicayana, at least to some extent, or else I would not have completed this book. There is scope for obsession wherever there is serious concern. The more complex the domain, the greater the concern that mistakes have been made.

The Agnicayana performance of 1975 was followed by a long series of expiation rites for mistakes that were or might have been committed. No anxiety or discomfort was felt, however, unless it was due to the excessive heat. Like solidarity, obsessive-ness may be a side effect of ritual. It is not a necessary feature.

Biologists have used the term “ritualisation” with reference to certain types of animal behavior. Some anthropologists have denied that there is any connection between such ritulisation and human rituals. As far as I can see the question is wide open.