Food in Indian Temples

Food plays a central role in rituals and worship in Hinduism, with the practice of offering food to deities ritualized in many famous temples in India. According to the Hindu scripture Bhagavad Gita, “The saintly persons get relief from all kinds of sins by partaking the food that has been first offered to gods as sacrifice. But those who prepare food for their selfish ends eat but only sins” (Bhagavad Gita 3:13).”   

The offering made by devotees to god is known as ‘Prasada’ in Sanskrit, and primarily consists of rice, vegetables, sweets and fruits. Onions, garlic, mushrooms and meat are generally not offered as prasada, as the Vedic scriptures and the Ayurveda system of traditional medicine list these foods as increasing the passionate elements (e.g. sexuality, ego) of the human mind and body. 

It is usual in a Hindu temple to prepare foods that are first offered to the deities, and left in their presence for a while to satisfy their spiritual hunger.  Thereafter the food becomes a sanctified prasad, which is distributed or even sold to the assembled devotees. Each temple has its own special prasad(s) established over a long period of time, and the quantities cooked daily at the popular temples are enormous. These temples often have huge dining areas to serve food to pilgrims.

Padmanabhaswami temple ( Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, South India)  

The Sree Padmanabha Swamy temple at Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum) city is one among the 108 sacred Vishnu temples in India.  It is an awe-inspiring structure that has a 100 feet high ornate monumental tower ('gopuram') built in the Dravidian style. The idol is an 18 feet long Lord Mahavishnu reclining over the Serpent King Anantha. It is believed that the sage Divakaramuni was blessed with a vision of Lord Vishnu and when he saw the deity he took the first food item he saw which was an unripe mango and a coconut shell as an offering plate and performed primary pooja. In memory of this legend, naivedyam or offering prepared from rice is offered to the deity here in a coconut shell. The ‘Paal Payasam’, milk cooked with rice and sweetened, is very famous. Other offerings include ‘Unni Appams’ (which are spongy-brown fried pieces made of a mélange of rice powder, banana, jackfruit and jaggery), ‘Aval’ (flattened wheat with sugar), and a special ‘Avial’ (savory mix of traditional vegetables, fresh coconut and coconut oil), cooked without mustard seeds and eaten with rice.    

Attukal Devi temple (Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, South India) 

The Attukal Bhagavathy temple in Trivandrum dedicated to the Goddess Bhagavathy is one of the most famous ancient temples in the whole of south India. The temple is often referred to as ‘Sabarimala of women’ as it attracts predominantly female devotees. The Pongala Mahotsavam is the most important festival of the temple, attracting over a million women, and is listed in the Guiness Book of Records as the religious event attracting the largest number of women on a single day. The prasadam made on the festival day is made of rice and jaggery, and is cooked in fresh earthern pots by thousands of female devotees seeking the blessing of the presiding Goddess of the shrine.  The prasadam is called ‘Pongal’ which means ‘boiling over’ because traditionally the pots of prasadam are allowed to boil or bubble over.   

Muruga temple (Palani, Tamil Nadu, South India) 

The Muruga temple of the Palani hills is dedicated to Lord Muruga, son of the god Shiva and the goddess Shakti. The temple is famous for its Panchamrith (literally ‘five sweet things’) of of crystal sugar, honey, ghee (clarified butter), cardamom and fruits (bananas, dates and raisins), which does not go rancid in hot weather for as long as six weeks.  Milk, Panchamrith and red sandalwood paste with cottage cheese are offered to the deity at night, which is distributed as prasad the next day. Devotees claim that the temple offerings attain medicinal properties when poured over the idol. The temple has a practice of accepting a cash offering of Rs. 25,000 from willing devotees which is used to provide free food to other pilgrims at noon.    

Arulmigu Devarajaswami Temple (Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu, South India) 

The great Vishnu temple of Devarajaswami in Kanchipuram is more than 1,000 years old and was built over centuries by various rulers — the Chola (1018 - 1278 A.D.), Chera (1312 - 1342) and Vijayanagara kings (1400 - 1600 A.D.). It has a prasad of a giant ‘idli’ weighing a kilo and a half. The idli is made of rice and lentils ground into a paste, spiced with pepper, ‘jeera’ (cumin seeds), ginger, and asafetida, fermented with curd, and then steamed.    

Sri Bhuvarahaswami temple (Srimushnan, Tamil Nadu, South India) 

The Vishnu temple at Srimushnan is dedicated to Varaha, the boar incarnation of Lord Vishnu. The legend associated with the temple is that Lord Vishnu assumed the form of a boar to rescue the earth from the demon Hiranyakashipu, who had taken the earth beneath the sea. The prasad of the temple is a confection prepared from the sweet root korai, which is held to be dear to boars.    

Sri Venkateshwara temple (Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, South India) 

The Venkateshwara temple at Tirupati is the most visited Hindu place of worship and is the world's second richest in terms of the offerings and gifts made by pilgrims. The temple is visited by about 60,000 pilgrims daily while on special occasions and festivals, the number of pilgrims shoots up to 200,000 making the temple the second most visited holy place after the Vatican annually. The site was an established center by the 5th century A.D and was richly endowed by the kings of various dynasties, including Krishna Deva Raya of Vijayanagara who donated gold and other ornaments to the temple.   ‘Laddu’, a sweet ball made of little sugary balls of lentil flour and mixed with dried fruit, saffron, spices and sugar, is the most famous prasadam given at the temple.  Approximately, 150,000 laddus are made every day at the temple, with one given free to each of the 50,000 pilgrims who come for a ‘darshan’ or viewing of the deity. Each is allowed to buy two more, at Rs 10 per laddu (~$0.25).  Revenue from the sale of the laddus is estimated at Rs 75 crore ($18.8 mn) in 2006, Rs 103 crore ($25.8 mn) in 2007, and is estimated to be Rs 125 crore ($31.3 mn) in 2008.  The laddus are prepared by the archakas (hereditary temple priests) in the potu (kitchen) of the temple in keeping with a tradition said to be 200 to 300 years old. A super-sized variety called Kalyana laddu weighs 500gm. The ingredients — besan (lentil flour), sugar, ghee, cardamom, raisins and cashew nuts — are bought from the auction at the Commodities and Spices Exchange in Kochi, Kerala and lifted into the kitchen by crane.  Other prasada prepared in the temple include the ‘daddojanam’ (a special curd and rice dish), ‘pongali’ (a dish made with rice, dal and ghee), tamarind rice, vadas (savory fried spiced lentil patties), and dosai (lentil and rice crepes).     

Sri Manjunatha swamy temple (Dharmasthala, Karnataka, South India) 

This is the most revered temple in Karnataka, and is unusual in that people of all castes, creeds, and social and economic strata are allowed to visit, unlike many other Hindu temples. The temple is devoted to Shiva and houses a ‘lingam’ of gold. It is run by a Jain administration and ‘poojas’ (rituals of worship) are conducted by Madhva priests.   The "Anna Daana"[free food] is perhaps one of the most impressive events that take place at the holy temple. Free food is provided to devotees who number approximately 10,000 per day. The temple kitchen has modern machinery and makes quality food continuously through out the day, which is served in a dining hall known as "Annapoorna".    

Jagannatha temple (Puri, Orissa, Eastern India) 

The Jagannatha temple in Puri, Orissa is dedicated to Lord Krishna and is sacred to many Hindus, particularly followers of Lord Krishna and Lord Vishnu. The temple is famous for its annual ‘Rath Yatra’, or chariot festival, in which the three main temple deities are hauled on huge and elaborately decorated chariots. The temple complex is about 400,000 square feet, and contains at least 120 temples and shrines. With its sculptural richness and fluidity of the Orissan style of temple architecture, it is one of the most magnificent monuments of India.  The temple holds the largest temple kitchen in India, with capacity to prepare food for 25,000 people on a ‘normal’ day and 100,000 people on a festival day. It creates some of the most elaborate preparations of temple food in the country. About a hundred varieties of dishes are made using rice and wheat and their flours and grits, lentils, local vegetables, jaggery and spices, with cow ‘ghee’ (clarified butter) as the cooking medium. The gods are served ritually five times a day, and pilgrims can eat at the spacious dining hall (‘bhoga-mandapa’), or buy prasad at a huge market within the temple walls. Puri is a very ancient and traditional temple, and so many food ingredients of relatively recent origin are not used. For example, only sweet potatoes are used at Puri, though potatoes are in common local use.   

Kali temple (Dakshineshwar, West Bengal, Eastern India) 

The Kali temple at Dakshineshwar is dedicated to Bhavatarini, an avatar of Goddess Kali.  The origin of the temple dates to the year 1847, when Rani Rashmoni, a wealthy zamindari widow built the temple after being blessed with a vision of the goddess Kali in a dream.   Interestingly, the Bengali community in Eastern India offers lamb or mutton, in the form of a sacrificial goat to the Goddess Kali in the temple on ‘Amavasya’ (the dark night of the month). However, the Goddess turns vegetarian once every seven years. The legend goes that the founder Rani Rasmani had a son-in-law who was vegetarian. Unable to bear the sight of blood he pleaded with his mother-in-law who promised him that Goddess Kali will not be offered meat once every seven years.     

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