Yudhishthira's Ashwamedham 11 - The Ceremonies Of Ashwamedham Poem by Unnikrishnan Sivasankara Menon

Note on Ashwamedham Part 4 After the return of the horse, more ceremonies were performed for a month before the main sacrifice. Twelve days of dīkṣā rites took place, and then twelve days of upasad. The dīkṣā rite was a preparatory consecration rite performed before sacrifices. It consisted of a preliminary oblation, and then the king would bathe, dress in black antelope skin, and sit on another skin in a hut in front of a fire, fasting in silence with a covered head and sleeping on the ground. The upasad was a multiday ceremony that precedes Soma sacrifices. It consisted of the acquisition and welcoming of Soma and the construction of various structures needed for the sacrifice, along with the sacrifice of a goat. On the twenty-fifth day, the agniṣṭoma was performed. The agniṣṭoma was the main part of the Soma sacrifice. At the evening pressing only two musical chants were sung and two recitations chanted. Then proceeded the conclusory libations to the 'yoking of the bay horses' and the sun, followed by the Avabhṛtha. The Avabhṛtha was the 'unpurificatory' bathing of the sacrificer at the end of the sacrifice. After an antelope skin was put in the water body, the king, his wife, and the priests ritually bathe. Afterwards a sterile cow or eleven other animals are sacrificed. Throughout the entire night, the annahoma was performed consisting of an oblation of clarified butter, fried rice, fried barley, and fried grain.