Agnihotri

Agnihotri is an Indian Brahmin surname derived from the Sanskrit word Agnihotra. The term Agnihotri originally referred to the Brahmins who maintained the sacred fire during the fire rituals.[1]

People with this surname include:

  • Arvind Agnihotri (born 1966), cardiovascular surgeon on the faculty of Harvard Medical School and Tufts University School of Medicine
  • Atul Agnihotri (born 1970), Bollywood actor
  • Bhishma Kumar Agnihotri, former Chancellor of Southern University Law Center, USA, former Ambassador-at-Large Global, Government of India
  • Bharat Agnihotri (born 1953), member of the Alberta Liberal Party
  • Mezhathol Agnihothri (born 4th century AD), Shrauta High Priest who revived the ancient traditions of Yaagam in Bharatam
  • Rati Agnihotri (born 1960), veteran Indian actress
  • Shiv Narayan Agnihotri (born 1850), founder of the Deva Samaj
  • Apurva Agnihotri, Indian actor
  • Vivek Agnihotri, Indian Bollywood director
  • Shilpa Saklani Agnihotri, television actress
  • Satish Agnihotri (born 1956), Madras high court Judge
  • Mridul agnihotri (born 1998), politician at samajwadi party uttar pardesh
  • Kuldeep Agnihotri (born 2000), Student and Social Worker at Nagpur and Belong from Sidhi, Madhya-Pradesh.

References

  1. ↑ Shibani Roy; S. H. M. Rizvi (2002). Encyclopaedia of Indian surnames. B.R. p. 6. ISBN 978-81-7646-247-1.

In ancient times Agnihotris were those who maintained fire in their altar in a ritualistic way throughout their life. They never let the agni go out. There were special rituals prescribed to be performed to re-light the fire in case the fire went out. This requires strict adherence to the daily rites. This person wakes up early in the morning, takes bath, performs the morning ritual, then attends to the lamp in which the fire is maintained, cleans around the cotton wick of the oil lamp, and completes the prayer. In South India there were some 60 practicing Agnihotris is doing havan and rituals.In those ancient days, when vedic religion prevailed, every Brahmin had to be an agnihotri till he stays as a married person. He will do the rituals of Agnihotram daily thrice, in the morning, afternoon and evening, till he has a living wife, or till he enters the Sanyas Aashram.

There may be a dispute about the sanyaas aashram, since none of the Samhita or the Brahmanam provide any insight about the same, and this may be a concept of later days.

After the marriage was over, there used to be a small ceremony on the fourth day of marriage, it was called as Chaturthi karma. Present day brahmins may not know much about the same, since this is seldom mentioned in the books on marriage, or the “Vivaaha Paddhati” as these are known, but the Grihya sutras explain this ritual lavishly. Fire was lit to do some homam, aimed at protecting the bride and the groom from evils, and the fire was brought to the house of the groom, and was established as the “Gaarhyapatya” or the household fire. This was used for the rituals of Agnihotram. There is even a procedure to reignite the fire, if it gets extinguished somehow.

After the death of either the wife or the husband, this very fire was used to light the funeral pyre, and the agnihotram would stop, till the man of the house marries again.

Those brahmins who carried on with this ritual, were later said to be Agnihotri. But since this ritual was cumbersome, put many restrictions, and even interfered with the day to day business, a lot of brahmins did not adhere to this ritual. One can consult the “Paaraskar grihyasutram” to get into the ritual aspects of this.

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