Ghee is a class of clarified butter that originated in ancient India and is commonly used in South Asian cuisines, traditional medicine, and religious rituals.

Ghee is always made from the milk of cows, which are considered sacred, and it is a sacred requirement in Vedic yajna and homa (fire sacrifices), through the medium of Agni (fire) to offer oblations to various deities.

Fire sacrifices have been performed dating back over 5,000 years. They are thought to be auspicious for ceremonies such as marriage, funerals, etc. Ghee is also necessary in Vedic worship of murtis (divine deities), with aarti (offering of ghee lamp) called diya or dipa (deep) and for Pancamrta (Panchamruta) where ghee along with mishri (mishri is different from sugar), honey, milk, and dahi (curd) is used for bathing the deities on the appearance day of Lord Krishna on Janmashtami, Siva (Shiva) on Maha-sivaratri (Maha Shivaratri). There is a hymn to ghee.

In the Mahabharata, the kaurava were born from pots of ghee. Getting pure ghee to perform sacred functions is difficult these days to the Hindu society as many large-scale producers add salt. Ghee is also used in bhang in order to heat the cannabis to cause decarboxylation, making the drink psychoactive.