Worshippers fed offerings of grain, fruit and milk into 108 fire pits while praying for world peace Sunday during a rare event at the Hindu temple in Shawnee.</p><p> Hindu temples in India regularly stage Maha Yagna rituals for peace, but Sunday&rsquo;s marked the first for the Hindu Temple and Cultural Center of Kansas City at 6330 Lackman Road. </p><p>Temple leaders said the event was only the 10th one of its size in the United States.</p><p> The ritual, under a large yellow and white tent set up in the parking lot, drew several local political leaders, including U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback and Mayor Jeff Meyers of Shawnee, who brought a proclamation declaring Sunday to be World Peace Maha Yagna Day.</p><p>Sai Venkat Alla never got a chance to attend a Maha Yagna ritual during her stays in India. She was grateful for the opportunity in Kansas.</p><p> &ldquo;It just never worked out when I was in India,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s very exciting to be here.&rdquo;</p><p> Sunday&rsquo;s event was expected to attract 1,500 people and was the end of 10 days of worship that started at the temple on May 7. Hundreds of worshippers gathered each night inside the temple to pray to different gods. At the concluding four-hour ceremony on Sunday, barefoot worshippers dressed in traditional Indian attire prayed to many gods, asking for world peace.</p><p> Arvind Khetia, a member of the Hindu community, said each god represents a manifestation of one ultimate reality. He said Hinduism, in its essence, is monotheistic.</p><p> Priests in training studied for three months to learn the prayers and chants used during Sunday&rsquo;s rich and reverent ceremony. One priest in training, dressed in yellow, worked with one couple at each small fire pit. Each group delivered offerings, in unison, along with the main priest who led the mantras in Sanskrit on a stage with a microphone.</p><p> The number of fire pits was limited to 108, in part due to space, but also because the number is considered auspicious, Khetia said.</p><p> Participants sat on small wooden platforms as they used wooden spoons to ladle butter onto chunks of wood inside the fire pits made from aluminum pans. They used their hands to sprinkle sesame seeds and flowers into the flames, which at times filled the tent with thick smoke.</p><p> The ceremony also was thick with symbolism. Fire is considered divine in its brightness and purity, Khetia said.</p><p> Temple leaders said the ancient ritual has its origin in Vedic culture, which flourished on the Indian subcontinent thousands of years ago.