The reasoning behind my choice of Agni, the fire God, is his position in the world of mortals and Gods. Since fire is a creation of this world, it feels like Agni is a link that connects us to the other worldly. What I found interesting was that unlike most gods, there is frequent interaction between him and his followers. The fire ceremony is a common ritual in the religion, and also fire in any culture is significant. Agni is the messenger of the gods, and the acceptor of sacrifices. For this reason, Agni is one of the most active Gods in the Hinduism lifestyle.
A piece of information regarding Agni that I found interesting was that in the late 1980’s India had named many missiles after the God. An action like this shows how Agni is fresh in the minds of Indians, and how he’s escaped obscurity unlike many other Gods when it comes to popular culture. This isn’t the only strange role Agni has taken on in Hindu culture. He is also seen as the fire in our stomachs, which helps us digest food. It’s obvious that the use of fire today is somewhat proportional to the popularity and power of the God, Agni. Due to the nature of fire, I imagine the Hindu people envision Agni as a very temperamental Deity. It is a force that we must be careful with, and depending on our own actions, can bring rewards, or punishment.
Since Agni is the God of sacrifice, it’s important to understand the process of the rite. It is a ceremony that is performed at all major junctures of a person’s life. This includes weddings, funerals, and even birth. Gifts are also sacrificed into the fire in hopes of good fortune from the Gods. I can understand how this ceremony became associated with sacrifices for the G ...