Fire engulfs Vedic venue just before final ritual Purnahati

Just a few hours before the final culmination (Purnahuti) to the Chandiyagam vedic ritual at Erravelli in Medak district, fire engulfed the yagashala, destroying everything in its range, including the worship material, and interrupted the concluding ritual on Sunday evening. There was already a warning to the organisers not to play with the fire earlier in the afternoon when chanting priests around 101 yagna kunds (hearths), each manned by 11 priests, ran out for a fresh breath of air as smoke enveloped the yagasthali (vedic venue). Some organisers from their safe surroundings made repeated appeals to the Vedic priests to return and not to interrupt the rituals. The police were told to be on the alert and prevent priests and others from leaving the venue. The inflammable worship material in the yagashala venue included 12 tonnes of kheer, tens of tons of firewood, tens of tonnes of clarified butter and a huge quantity of camphor. This apart there were 101 Kanchi silk saris and 2 tons of vermilion and turmeric stored for the Purnahuti. At every yagna kund, there were 5 kilos of clarified butter and 10 dozens of bananas, among other things. Besides, a special firewood to ensure the complete burning of food materials going into the fire for Purnahuti was also kept at the venue. It was just at lunch break, one hour before the final ritual (Purnahuti), when saris and other material are tossed into the fire that the Towering Inferno broke out. The fire is said to have crackled just as the priests and others took the break when camphor at one of the yagna kunds caught fire. The tongues of fire rose to unbelievable heights and caught the thatched roof. The inflammable material fastening the canopy and then the canopy itself caught fire, bringing it down on the yagna kunds. The fire went out of control and the entire yagnashala was up in flames. Black and white smoke billowed forth. Fire showed up from the burning material and then the multi-storyed temporary structure built with thatch and bamboo collapsed. What remained were the skeletal remains of the main posts for erecting the yagnashala. Fire Brigade personnel arrived and made short work of putting out the big fire.