Friday, November 30, 2012

Divine cuisine - Neivedyam and prasadam

Whenever I visit the Skandagiri  temple  and walk out with the prasadam, I end up thinking what is it with the prasadam that has this fulfilling taste and will give you satiation when you have even just a little from that small shallow leaf cup.  It is less than a ladle but you feel your dinner is complete  and the taste , oh so…. Heavenly!

Is it the ritualistic cooking  that goes into the making of the Neivedyam( offering to god)?

I have visited many temples where the visit is completed with the prasadam and everywhere I have experienced  such divine taste.  Most big  temples that I have visited have huge halls where meals are served and  the food offered here is  sattvic meal. 

One of them  that I have often visited  is the ISKCON temple near my parents home, here  though commercially it is called ‘Annakuta’ . 

 According to higher taste of ISKCON( Higher taste is their publication), the wholesome meal is cooked according to vedic scriptures  without the use of onions, garlic, eggs, caffeine and is never over- spiced and the food thus prepared is offered to god as ‘Neivedyam’. This food when partaken after offering to god with vedic vibrations sanctifies the food and renders the food tasty and is  called ‘Prasadam'.


                                ( Jagannath temple prasadam counter photo taken from my mobile)

 The food is cooked  according to the satvic principles of Vedas.  The food is  thus  created with positive vibrations & thoughts  and cleanses  both body and mind. It also keeps us healthier.  I have read that the important factor that goes into ritualistic cooking is that it is made with good thoughts.  While cooking the thoughts play a major role in the outcome.  The thoughts of the cook flow into the food that we cook and have their impact on it and so one should not cook food when one is angry and stressed .And, also the cleanliness/hygiene of the cooks and the vibrations of the various mantras they chant while cooking must be rendering the divine taste to the food. 

 At home too, it is a practice among my family elders in our native place   to treat cooking like a ritual. They cook food only after having their bath. They cook on slow fire  in special vessels which endow the taste and aroma , they  chant mantras while cooking. The food is first offered to God  along with ghee, then to  crows and then served to people at home. Perhaps the reason why it tastes divine and satiating. Food had with such positive vibrations peacefully are supposed to be healthy. 

There are many such places of worship which are famous for prasadam, some of which I have had the pleasure of  experiencing were -

  1. The foremost is ofcourse  at Tirupati  – the GIS marked Laddu, dadhiyodanam(curd rice) and puliogre( tamarind rice).
  2. At Udipi (Karnataka)which  is called Anna brahma kshetra( where food is treated as god) there is a huge hall catering to the devotees and serves food to all the devotees.
  3. At Sri kshetra Dharmasthala again in Karnataka.
  4. The sattvic meal at Ramanasramam( Sri Ramana maharishi's ashram). Here you will find many foreigners squatting on the floor and eating with their fingers from plaintain leaf as if they were born with the practice.
  5.  The puliogre of most Vishnu temples especially the one at Devagiri( Bangalore). My in-laws would wait till 1.p.m( closing time) at the temple on Saturdays because my then 5 year old daughter loved this and would wait to grab it.
  6. The thambittu( made with jaggery, ghee & riceflour on festive days) at most kannadiga homes.
  7. The ksheera ( sugar, rava &ghee) during satyanarayana vrat
  8. The kadubu( fried modaks) during sankatahara chaturthi
  9. The aravana payasam of sabarimala, Kerala( rice kheer made with  jaggery)
  10. The paal payasam @ guruvayoor( made with milk and rice)
  11. The pazhani panchamirtham (tamilnadu) ( medley of fruits, honey and palmsugar)
  12. The pongal at ISKCON, Bangalore  and the various Krishna Prasad like pizza, burger, vegan biscuits, cakes. Yes, every vegan product here is sold in the name of Krishna Prasad and it tastes divine.
  13. The sundals( usal) at various homes during navratri visits.
  14. The snake pit mud at kukke subramanya( remember this temple site got more hits when Sachin tendulkar visited)
  15. The tilgul of shirdi( made with sugar and til)
  16. The  sugar balls of varanasi and most temples up in the north.
  17. The haldi at Saraswati temple, and the brahma temple @ Trichy
                 ..... and  many more I am leaving this list incomplete..........


Would you care to add yours in the comments section?

23 comments:

  1. I love the langar prepared in the gurudwara sahib, especially that black daal mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm


    Bikram's

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    1. wowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.........so many mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....:)
      must be tasting divine . i had no opportunity to experience a langar though i have been to the EME gurudwara sahib near my house. Beautifully maintained by the indian army. Thanks Bikram.

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  2. Wow, that is some list. Yes indeed, divine presence adds something unique - not just to our food, but to our entire well being.

    I find even the rice flakes in my neighbourhood small temple to be very very special.

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    1. absolutely agree about the well being. yes, anything in the name of prasadam tastes special and divine. I missed many more in the list like the one at sringeri, srirangam etc.,

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  3. !!! iraiyai theduvathodu iRaiyaiyum thedirukeenga pola :D:D somehow i find prasadams at ISKON semma comical...bisuit cake ithelaam prasadama thara oray kovil...nothing against them being offered as prasadam..but kovil feel not coming...unga listla udipi and last 3 entries thavira micha ella kovil and prasadam i the tried :D karnataka is haven for foodies i guess :))

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    1. Shhhhhhhhhh.... keep it a secret... andha mudhal line is the reason to go to ISKCON :) Same page as you about the kovil feel. about the prasadam, i feel it caters to the international clients. it is comical here for me to see the dasas toting laptops and talking in dollors but i know many people have faith. It is a culture house where tender minds are groomed and they do a lot of service to the poor.

      Yes,confirmed. don't guess.Ask me, i have lived there for 30 years. Karnataka is a haven for foodies especially vegetarians. Ungal tamizhil pizhai ulladu.

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    2. achacho....sorry clients illai....devotees:)

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    3. hahahahaaa..clients :D:D:D chaancela :D:D en tamizhil pizhaiya..enna kutram kandeeer...sor kutrama allathu porulil kutrama...koorum kooori paarum...muahahahahahaa...avlo thaan dialog nyabgam iruku..athuku mela netrikan thirapinum thaaan :DD:D

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    4. aiaiyo..vasama matintayno....irukkatum...edukkum commentuvom:D

      ayalnattil vazhum thamizh nannaray...porulil onrum kuttram illai anaaaal... adhu "iraivanai theduvathodu..." endru allava irukka vendum:D

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    5. iraiyai (chinna ra..meaning food) iRaiyai (peria RA meaning short form for iraivan) atntha quote thirumoolaroda thirumanthiramla varuthu nenakren...not sontha sarakku

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    6. oh adhu ultava.... andalavukku thamizh appona enakkudaan theriyalai. Thamizh sondama ' dina thanthi' paperlerndu padikka kathunden.... schoola padikkala so may be grammar and literature weak.

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  4. Hi Asha, this is a beautiful post.I truly appreciate your pious and religious bent of mind. We are also great Bhaktas of Lord
    Ganesha and Bhagwan Krishna.I will add to your list another Temple ie. Ambalapuzha Sri Krishna Temple, where we had the good fortune of partaking Lord's ambrosia--pal payasam.This happened a few decades ago. The taste is still lingering in our mouth. Ash if you dont mind ,can I have your e- mail id that I can share with you more.

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  5. Thank you, Ma'am:) that's a nice addition to the prasadam list, the famous ambalapuzha paal payasam, have heard of it.

    I am not religious/pious by practice but yes, i value our culture, connect with god, have faith in him and try to hold on to some traditions by tweaking them to suit me :)

    my email id is shreshar@gmail.com

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  6. Have not tasted the divine cuisine you have mentioned in the temples in South India. But I can vouch for the Kada Prasad at all the gurudwaras and the langar at the Golden temple is simply out of this world!

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  7. Like you, My friend from Amritsar vouches for that too, she calls it Karha parshad . And she talks about the guru ka langar at Amritsar. She says it is all in the water there, Amrit(nectar). Most prasad are food for soul, lovingly prepared where every grain is blessed by prayer. Thank you, shilpa.

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  8. All sorts of prasadam given at any religious place when taken with certain amount of belief, always tastes good.

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    1. yes,haddock. you are so right there.Thank you:)

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  9. Wow, that's a unique compilation

    Thanks

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    1. just wanted to know more and hence put forth the last line to you all, thank you sowmya :)

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  10. I just visited your blog and I am amazed at the felicity with which you write about the ordinary things of life, which more often than not, are more memorable than the big events and happenings. Your account of the Anantgiri trip was very nice to read. And I like the obvious pride in culture and tradition, your enjoyment of your children and family, and your simplicity in outlook. I have a six year old I am wrapped up in and I wish I had half your eloquence. I am happy to make your e-acquaintance thanks to Ramesh.

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  11. Welcome Ravi :) such generous words, extremely humbled & honored to receive that comment from a knowledgeable person like you. It is your humility talking there about your eloquence, I have no doubts you would maintain a better blog than me. Hope to read about your 6 year old. yes like you rightly asessed this blog is about my pride in culture, my land and all those little things of life. Life to me is in simple things. thank you so much for that beautiful comment, will cherish it:) and yes, thanks a ton to Ramesh for that e-acquaintance.

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  12. Asha, you get the cookery book from Iskon, it has lovely recipes from Samosas to pastas, and they all come out really well.
    Never had the chance of having Gurudwara food, but always wanted to have, by just seeing it he TV, my mouth starts watering. The Melkotai pulliyudarai, Triplicane, Sakara pongal, one can keep going on.

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  13. will buy and try those recipes, thanks Rama :)

    Melkote and triplicane, both places i have not visited. nice addition to the list. yes, one can keep adding on... i have even heard there is a temple near madurai( Azhagar koil) where dosa is prasadam and another place where appam is prasadam. Also, at oppiliappan koil, the uniqueness of the prasadam is that salt is not added to the dish but it tastes like a salted dish. so many more.....wanted to know it all from you and hence the last line.......

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