Sangom, I had stated very clearly in my first post. I had replied to Nara's post to counter the allegation that expenditure on homas is a waste of money. Only in that context I had drawn a parallel to expenditure on cigarettes, alcohol, face creams etc. That is only that. Please do not twist my words or read into it meanings which are out of context. This is in the religion category and assumes the efficacy of the Homas. You have a thread where you have posted about other aspects of Homas. But not here. About your question regarding Archana and Homa, we believe that the offerings in the Homas directly reach the Deity through the medium of Agni. This is basic Hindu belief. So Homa is far superior to Archana. About pollution, the pollution that I have caused by driving around in cars for decades is much more than what is caused by hundreds of Homas. We all do that and never even think about it.