ALUVA: The spiritual ceremonies of the sevenday- long Agnishtoma Somayagam got off to a spirited start at the specially constructed Yagasala, on Sivarathri Manalpuram, on Periyar River in Aluva on Saturday.
Hundreds of people including scientists, researchers and scholars from different parts of India and abroad visited the Yagasala on the first day.
The Yaga is aimed at prosperity of all living beings in the nature. Visiting the Yagasala is considered a blessing equal to having hundred good sons. Associating with the Yagam will be equivalent to having one lakh good sons. Contributing for the yagam and annadanam are considered sacred and brings abundant blessing for the individual. The Somayagam was last performed in 1787.
The yagam, held after 222 years, will enlighten the original Vedic rituals. The intense energy that springs from the Yagasala will have a sudden positive impact.
The rituals on the first day began at 4.52 a.m. when Vedic scholars led by Vaideekan Idamana Narayanan Potti and Kaimukku Vaideekan Sreedharan Namboodiri performed the ignition of the sacrificial fire. Raksha Purushan Sooryanarayana Sharma, Yajamanan Kurusaroor Narayana Adithiripad and Yajamana Pathni (wife) were present on the occasion.
The vedic sacrificial fire having the power of Sun was invoked into the Somakundam.
The Yagapooja to please the Gods was performed. The negative energy will be purged and the positive energy will be delivered to the environment, following the pooja. By performing the Yagapooja, the physical relationship between the Yajamanan and his wife (Yajamana pathni) will cease to exist.
More than 2,500 people were served annadanam at the specially constructed pandal near the Yagasala in the noon.
The presiding deities were propitiated when the Vedic scholars sitting around three Homakundams performed the Pasweshti ritual in the afternoon as the second phase of the Yagam.
Somalatha, the rare herb growing in the high-altitudes of the Himalayas was brought to the yagasala in a procession led by Raksha Purushan Soorya Narayana Sharma in the evening. Somalatha, the most-important offering of the Somayagam, was covered with gold and the skin of Krishna Deer when it was brought to the Yagasala.
It is believed that Somalatha will flower only when a Yagam was scheduled to be held. Once the Somalatha is brought inside, the Yagasala will come under a divine clout. The Agnistoma Somayagam will conclude on May 1.