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Concept
Purohita
Summary
Purohita (पुरोहित), in the Hindu context, means chaplain or family priest within the Vedic priesthood. In Thailand and Cambodia, it refers to the royal chaplains.
The word purohita derives from the Sanskrit, puras meaning "front", and hita, "placed". The word is also used synonymously with the word pandit, which also means "priest". Tirtha purohita means the purohita who sit at the fords of the holy rivers or holy tanks and who have maintained the records of the forefathers of the Hindu family for thousands of years. Purohita can refer to a house priest.
In India, literate men from the Brahmin varna who desire to become purohitas receive special training both in theory and practice in Vedic schools linked to agraharams, inherited from royal grants to train and sustain chaplains historically maintained by dynasties such as the Cholas and Pallavas.
In fact, special training is required to perform yajna and yagadi rituals. For this, knowledge of the Vedas is required. In order to learn those rituals, one must settle down as courtiers in famous temples. Temples like Tirupati, Simhachalam or Chathapuram Agraharam run Vedic schools to teach wisdom to the aspiring purohita. Chathapuram Agraharam in Kalpathi. Moreover, by joining as disciples of eminent scholars, some learn this education in the manner of gurus.
Training follows the rhythm of mandatory regular prayer or Sandhyavandanam. The candidates are first trained in the Vigneswara Puja. Cantillation and preaching are also part of the formation. This initial formation takes at least one year. After that, it takes another five to eight years to learn to rich array of rites of passage or Shodasha rituals.
The duties of the purohita is to perform rites or yajna and Vedic sacrifices such as ashvamedha in favour of a sponsor.
Since Vedic times the sponsor of the sacrifice, or yajamāna was only a distant participant while the hotṛ or brahman took his stead in the ritual. In this seconding lay the origins of the growing importance of the purohita (literally, "one who is placed in front").
Official source
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