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Science Behind the Hindu Homam Ritual.. A thread 👇
Homam (havan) is a ritual performed in Hinduism,is a process of invoking a sacred fire with intentions of cleansing one’s self (material n spiritual), and the environment.
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The fire is a symbol of God, n practitioners offer items such as various grains ghee and herbs to the sacred fire as symbolic offerings to God.

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Common belief assumes several positive effects inherent to this ritual, ranging from revitalizing/purifying the environment to curing diseases.
The fundamental steps in any Homam procedure focus on starting and maintaining the sacred fire. There are other components of this ritual, for example the chanting of mantras, which may or may not add to the assumed benefits.
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Although there are different types of Homams, the most commonly used ingredients in this process include items such as dried cow dung patties, dried coconut, wood shavings, peepal twigs (samit), camphor, milk, curd, and ghee .
Approach here is to identify the chemical composition of emissions from the aerobic combustion (burning in the presence of oxygen) of these commonly used ingredients, and the potential effect of these emissions on the Environment n personal health.
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Studies indicate that burning of plants and herbs releases smoke that is composed of Nitrogen, oxygen n argon (~75%) carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane and other hydrocarbons (~20 %) and other particulate matters (~5%)
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These particulate matters are composed of terpenoids, phenols, alcohols, carbonyls, alkaloids, organic acids, sterols and sugar derivatives. At high temperature, metals such as Arsenic, nickel, cobalt, and lead could.also be observed.
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The basic principles behind the generatn of smoke by burning herbs, biomass n other plants derivatives are expectd to be the same. In all these scenarios, combustion takes place in an open atmosphere n the effect arise out of Volatiles n particulate matters present in the smoke.
The study presents a thorough picture of expected particulate emissions. These emissions were shown to be 1-2% of overall emissions,mostly containing carbonaceous matter (50-60% carbon from organic compound, <10% elemental carbon)

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All these studies indicate that emissions from burning ingredients that are commonly used to start and maintain a fire during Homa rituals are likely to result in emissions that fall into 2 categories :
A. A vapour phase (90-95%) composed of carbon dioxide,carbon monoxide,methane and other hydrocarbons.
B. A particulate phase(5-10%) composed of carbon and organic compounds, ionic species and trace metals.
Studies on medicinal smoke inhalation have also clearly explained these advantages. It is not a far-fetched idea to think that our ancestors, does not matter if it was intentional or not, realized the benefits associated with inhalation of smoke from burning certain plants.
Alkaloids that are part of these emissions have the potential to act against Hypertension,arythmia, malaria n cough. sterols helps in maintaining cholesterol n improve immune functions. Terpenoids have antibacterial, antimalarial n ant-inflamatory properties
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Another aspect of these emissions relate to their effect on the Environment. it is known that particulates that are part of efficient in Nucleating and cloud Condensation.

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This is also widely believed to be true in the case of Homa rituals, where there are specific recommendations for procedures to be followed during drought periods.
Considering all these facts, it is evident that the positive effects associated with Homan/yagya rituals cannot be written off as a superstition.

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