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Synopsis Agni is not only fire and the name of God, but also the name of the Agnicayana ceremony itself, and the name of the bird shaped alter constructed during that ceremony. This book deals with Agni in all these forms. The first volume of Agni: The Vedic Ritual of the Fire Altar contains a discussion of the place of the Agnicayana in the Vedic Srauta tradition, its textual loci, traditional and modern interpretations of its origins and significance and an overview of the Nambudiri Vedic tradition. The bulk of the volume, devoted to a detailed description of the 1975 twelve-day performance, is richly illustrated with tipped-in photographs, mostly in colour. There are numerous text illustrations, tables and maps. The mantras are given in Devanagari with English translation. The second volume contains contributions by an international galaxy of scholars on archeology, the pre-Vedic Indian background, geometry, ritual vessels, music, Mudras, Mimamsa, a survey of Srauta traditions in recent times, the influence of Vedic ritual in the Homa traditions of Indonesia, Tibet, China, Japan and related topics. There are translations of the relevant Srauta Sutras of Baudhayana (together with Caland's text and the Jaiminiya (with Bhavatrata's commentary) as well as the Kausitaki Brahmana; and a survey of the project with an inventory of the films and tape recordings made in 1975.