Vedī
Vedī · vedī, “the altar”
Grammar: feminine noun; also written vedi. A small or raised vedī is a vedikā; its synonym is vitardi.
Meaning: the altar: a raised platform made for a rite, on which kalaśas are set, the devatā is worshipped and the sacred fire is kindled. In the temple it is also a part of the tower.
In the scriptures:
The vedi of the pratishṭhā. In the dikpāla-yāga which Hayagrīva tells Brahmā, half of the maṇḍapa is set apart for the bathing of the devatā, for setting up the kalaśas and for the materials of the yāga. In the other half, or in a third part of it, a beautiful vedi is made, adorned with large and small kalaśas and with canopies. Kalaśas are set in the four directions of the vedi and in its corners; first the four in the directions, with the kalaśa mantra, and on them the dikpālas are invoked and worshipped (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 56). In the kumbhādhivāsa, the setting up of the kalaśas, the vedi is wetted with an unbroken stream of water and grain is scattered on it; the kalaśa is carried round in pradakshiṇa and set on the grain, cloth is wrapped round it, and Lakshmī and Nārāyaṇa are worshipped on it. In the snāna-maṇḍapa four kalaśas holding all the materials for the abhisheka are set in the four directions on the vedi in the north-east (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 57). In the maṇḍapas of the pratishṭhā, a vedi of four hastas is built in the middle maṇḍala, with four pillars at its corners, and the kuṇḍas are built leaving the space between the vedi and the pillars (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 95).
Śiva worshipped on the vedī. In the nirvāṇa-dīkshā, the guru worships Śiva on the kalaśa, in the maṇḍala and on the vedī, and offers the inner bali between the vedī and the kalaśa (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 84). In the pratishṭhā which Parameśvara teaches, the ācārya sits south of the vedī facing north and performs bhūtaśuddhi; Dharma and the others are worshipped in the kalaśas at the foot of the pillars and on the vedī; and at the times of dīkshā and sthāpana Śiva is worshipped on the kalaśa, on the vedī or on the maṇḍala. The mūrti is worshipped on the eastern vedikā and bathed, then covered with a yellow cloth and taken to the northern vedī; and the nāḍī-sandhāna, the joining by channels, is made between the kalaśa, the vedī, the fire and Śiva (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 96).
The altar of the homa. In the havana of the pavitrāropaṇa, the worshipper draws on the agni-kuṇḍa or the vedī three lines pointing east, drawn from the south towards the north, and over them three lines pointing north; around the kuṇḍa or vedī he spreads kuśa and places the paridhis (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 34). The pavitraka offered on the vedī is thirty-seven aṅgulas long, by the aṅgulas of one’s own hand (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 33). On the day of his abhisheka the king fasts and performs homas, with recitation of mantras, in the fire set up on the vedi; and the purohita approaches the vedi to begin the abhisheka with a golden kalaśa of a hundred holes (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 218). In the rites that remove portents which Pushkara teaches Paraśurāma, if there is no mūrti of Bhagavān Vishṇu, one worships Vishṇu in a water-filled kalaśa set on a vedi; and for the homa to Vāsudeva and the devatās, the vedi on the ground is swept and sprinkled, kuśa is spread on all four sides, and the fire is kindled (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 264).
The vedī of the temple. In the marks of a prāsāda (temple), the vedī is set on the third part of the śikhara, and the part in front of it is the kaṇṭha (neck), known as the amalasāra. The vedī is made in ten parts: five for the width of the skandha (shoulder), three for the kaṇṭha and four for its aṇḍa (the egg-shaped dome), as printed (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 104).
In his lexicon Agnideva gives vedikā and vitardi as the words for a raised platform, a verandah seat (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 363).
Related terms: Vedikā · Kuṇḍa · Maṇḍapa · Kalaśa · Homa · Pratishṭhā
Sources
- Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 33, 34, 56, 57, 84, 95, 96, 104, 218, 264, 363