from the fifth to the thirteenth century CE. This period saw a shift from Śrauta sacrifices to charitable grant of gifts such as giving cows, land, issuing endowments to build temples and sattrani (feeding houses), and water tanks as part of religious ceremonies. Contemporary practices Most Śrauta rituals are not performed in the modern era, and those that are, are rare. Some Śrauta traditions have been observed and studied by scholars, as in the rural parts of Andhra Pradesh, and elsewhere in India and Nepal. Śrauta traditions from Coastal Andhra have been reported by David Knipe, and an elaborate śrauta ceremony was video recorded in Kerala by Frits Staal in 1975. According to Axel Michaels, the homa sacrifice rituals found in modern Hindu and Buddhist contexts evolved as a simpler version of the Vedic Śrauta ritual. Knipe has published a book on Śrauta practices from rural Andhra. The Śrauta ritual system, states Knipe, "is an extended one, in the sense that a simple domestic routine has been replaced by one far more demanding on the religious energies of the sacrificer and his wife," and is initiated by augmenting a family's single fire Grihya system to a three fire Śrauta system. The community that continues to teach the Śrauta tradition to the next generation also teaches the Smarta tradition, the choice left to the youth. The Andhra tradition may be, states Knipe, rooted in the ancient Apstamba Śrauta and Grihya Sutras. In the Andhra traditions, after one has established the routine of the twice-daily routine of agnihotra offerings and biweekly dara pūrṇamāsa offerings, one is eligible to perform the agniṣṭoma, the simplest soma rite. After the agniṣṭoma, one is eligible to perform more extensive soma rites and agnicayana rites. Śrauta brahmins specialise in conducting rituals according to the śruti corpus of texts, in contrast to smarta brahmins, known for conducting rituals according to smriti texts. Women reciting mantras at śrauta ceremonies of Hinduism from ancient times have been suggested by a number of scholars such as Mary McGee, Stephanie Jamison, Katherine Young, and Laurie Patton. Defunct practices The Ashvamedha and Rajasuya are not practiced anymore. There is doubt the Purushamedha, a human sacrifice, was ever performed. Influence The Śrauta rituals were complex and expensive, states Robert Bellah, and "we should not forget that the rites were created for royalty and nobility". A Brahmin, adds Bellah, would need to be very rich