VRML Vedic Altar - Updated with Quicktime Movie showing what the .wrl File looked like

Virtual Reality Vedi

Revised site note 1/26/10: This page is left as it was originally with minor modifications to font and background color for ease of reading. VRML was new and sexy, and I did a lot of work with it, but --as with many things in the internet, VRML was not to prevail. Here's a summary of VRML and my experiences (!!) with that "reality" ... and others. If you find a way to make the .wrl files work, PLEASE email me!! As a consolation, I do still have a video I made of a flyover of the alter, you can see that here with QuickTime. It takes a few seconds to load. The original altar was fully interactive in its day ... sigh ... For more fond memories on VRML and further information, go here. Navigation links at the bottom show what the original interactive vedi would take you to, it was interlinked to the actual texts. Sexy stuff back in 1997! Bottom of the page is the original old pathways through the site.

Virtual Reality Mark-up Language was in its heyday when-- if such could ever even been said of it--when I made this virtual reality altar based upon the agnihotra ritual. It is interactive (see below) with links to the key segments of Vedic texts referring to the parts of the altar. Unfortunately, the VRML specification never caught on enough to systematize links, so different versions will work with different browsers, so be sure and try each one of the links for the altar below.

I recommend clicking between the VRML and regular browser windows when following links. Links are all over, with specific guides to the main elements of the Agnihotra vedi, according to the Rig Veda and Shatapatha BraahmaNa (3-4000 year old texts from which the ritual, still performed today, comes--alas--apart from the brief English intro's on the linked pages from the vedi--it's all in Sanskrit). The linked Vedic text explanations are reached by clicking the various items and elements of the Vir-ritual space. These links include:

Legendary origins of the ritual
Significations of the directional orientation for the altar
Mysteries of the Fire Altar
Origins of the associations between praaNa (breath), vaac(speech), aatman (focus of study here)
aahavaniiya The eastern fire, that of the sky
gaarhapatya The western fire, that of the household
dakSiNaagni The southern fire, that of the king of of the Dead
More on the directions and the ritual walks of the participants.
hotr: Ritual priest of the Rig Veda
adhvaryu: Ritual Priest of the Yajur Veda
aagniidhra: Ritual Priest of Yajur and Atharva Veda's

Try each one, and if you need to, try a different browser (they're included in folders on the CD, otherwise you can download and experiment with your own. There are four vresions, and the first one requires that you be hooked to the internet for the links to work. The other two, less reliable on Win95, work better on Mac:

Version One Requires internet connection for links.
Version Two Works okay, but lighting sources clutter the view.
Version Three looks good, but links can be finicky.
Version Four very few circumstances will this one work, but sometimes it's good on a Mac.