Agni

Agni is the Vedic god of fire, the messenger between humans and the gods, who carries offerings to heaven. He is shown with two faces, seven tongues, red skin and a ram as his mount, and holds a spear or flames. Worship is Vedic and household based, through the sacred fire of the yajna and the home hearth. In Odisha, Agni is the guardian of the south-east among the Dikpalas, and Jajpur, the old Viraja Kshetra, is held in tradition to be the site of a great yajna of Brahma. Fire rites mark every Hindu sacrament.

Agni is among the most invoked gods of the Rigveda, which opens with a hymn to him, beginning with the words Agnim ile purohitam. He is the priest of the gods, the mouth through which they eat the offering, and the witness of vows. In Vedic ritual the fire is kindled and fed with ghee, and in a...