Udgatr

Type of sacrificial priest in the
Brahmana literature, one of the later
strands in the sacred literature known as
the Vedas. The Brahmanas largely functioned as manuals describing how to
perform sacrificial rites—which primarily involved burning offerings in a
sacred fire—and the care and attention
devoted to detailing these sacrifices
leads to the inference that these were
the primary religious act. These rites
were so complex that they required specialized ritual technicians: the
adhvaryum, the hotr, the udgatr, and
the brahman. Of these, the udgatr was
the sacrificial priest who chanted the
hymns from the Sama Veda that were
used in the sacrifice.