prasadam

In Hinduism, food plays an important role in rituals and worship, and the food offered to the gods is called prasada. The Sanskrit word "prasada" or "prasadam" means "mercy," or the divine grace of God.

We can make the preparing of food, the offering of food to God, and the eating of the food offered, into a powerful devotional meditation. If, as a meditative discipline, we can offer our food to God with devotion before eating it, not only are we not implicated in the karma involved in acquiring the food, but we can actually make spiritual progress by eating the offered food.

Our devotion, and God's grace, subtly transforms the food offered from material nutrition to spiritual mercy or prasada.

GUIDELINES TO PREPARE PRASADA

Before we can offer any food to God, however, we must first follow some important guidelines while preparing the food.

First, God only accepts purely vegetarian offerings - offerings that are acquired without pain and suffering on the part of any creature. So, we have to strictly avoid cooking any meat (including chicken; a bird is not a vegetable!), fish and eggs.

Second, we can't offer any onions, garlic or mushrooms. This may seem like an odd proscription; but the Vedic scriptures, as well as the ancient natural medicinal system of Ayurveda, explain that these foods excite the more passionate elements of the human psycho-physical constitution.

Third (and this can sometimes be tough), we must not taste the food before it is offered to God. The preparing of prasada is done as an active devotional meditation. So the goal is to prepare delicious foods, not with our own satisfaction in mind, but thinking only of the satisfaction of God. Therefore, He should be the first to "taste" the fruits of our labors.

Keeping this meditative goal in mind, it is important to have an atmosphere in our kitchen that is conducive to creating a meditative and devotional state. We should be in a calm, peaceful and contemplative frame of mind while preparing food for God, thinking to ourselves as we prepare the food that we are acting for God's satisfaction, and not just our own.

Finally, as in any spiritual endeavor, it is important to maintain a high standard of cleanliness while preparing, cooking, and offering the food. The kitchen, utensils and foods used should be clean. We ourselves also should be clean and bathed before beginning Prasada-Meditation, or any other meditation for that matter.

If we can follow all of the above guidelines and, most importantly, maintain a meditative consciousness of love and devotion for God as we are performing these activities, then God will gladly accept our offering.

HOW TO OFFER FOOD TO GOD

It is helpful if you have an altar already set up somewhere in your home, apartment or dorm. On this altar should be either a sacred image or a picture of God in any of His sacred forms. For example, an image of any of His incarnations - Rama, Krishna, Narasingha - or any other form, such as Srinathaji or Venkateshvara, is fine. In addition, you can include images of your guru, saints, or other devas or devis on your altar - Durga, Ganesha, Sarasvati, etc. Images of God, however, should be the focal-point of any altar used for meditation. If you don't have an altar, then placing a simple image of God somewhere special will do.

When the food is ready, take a sampling of each preparation, along with a glass or cup of water, and place them all on a special plate that is used only for offering food to God. This plate must never be used for any other purpose than offering food in Prasada-Meditation. Place the plate of food before the sacred image. Offer a little incense to God. Then, in a meditative and devotional state of mind, sit with eyes closed in meditation and recite several sacred mantras. One such mantra which is highly effective is: Om Namo Narayanaya.

After chanting this mantra for some time, then remain in silent prayer for 5 - 10 minutes and request the Lord to accept your offering. After you have offered the food in this way, the food that you have cooked is now sanctified and considered to be prasada, food transformed into the grace of God. By partaking in such food, we show our devotion to God, and thus make spiritual advancement.

The food on the the plate should be re-merged into the food in the pots. Having thanked the Lord for accepting your offering, the prasada can now be eaten. The food should also be eaten with meditative awareness, peacefully and respectfully.

The best time to visit some of Tamil Nadu’s legendary temples that have stood the test of time, is at daybreak. I still remember my last visit to the Meenakshi Temple, the pride of Madurai with its imposing Gopurams (temple towers) that included a fascinating walking trail around the temple. Soon after the trek around the temple, I checked into one of the temple’s Prasadam (Prasad in Hindi) stalls that serve 7 varieties of prasadam every day. The temple’s kitchen makes delicious puliyodharai, murukku (chaklis) ladoos and puttu once a week.

Divine food – that’s a fitting description for some of the delicacies that are prepared with love and devotion in many of Tamil Nadu’s ancient and modern temples. Food that is always offered to the presiding deity before being made available to lesser mortals in most cases through the temple canteens or souvenir shops.

temple puja

Some of these dishes are steeped in history while many of these special dishes are part of popular culture (like the Tirupathi ladoo from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh). The recipe for success is usually the same. It hasn't changed over a long period of time - high quality ingredients and large scale cooking with wood fires. But the X-factor is probably the devotion and dedication of cooks at the Madapallis, the temple kitchens. We pick  temples in Tamil Nadu that are not just popular with devotees but also for their divine food:

1. The Sakkarai (Sweet) Pongal at the Parathasarathy Temple: This 8th Century Pallava-era temple located in Triplicane in the heart of Chennai is one of the city’s most visited temples. The temple’s time-tested recipe for its rich Sweet Pongal includes 700 grams of ghee and 400 grams of cashew nuts for every 2 kilograms of rice.

2. The Pongal at the Nanganallur Anjaneya Temple: This relatively new temple in Chennai is home to one of the tallest Hanuman statues (32 feet). A morning darshan of the temple’s iconic Hanuman statue is usually rewarded with a cup of piping hot Pongal that is given to all visitors. The Pongal is not greasy and gets its subtle flavours from the peppercorns and jeera.

3. Sambara Dosa at the Ranganthasamy Temple, Srirangam: I still remember family members returning from Srirangam (near Trichy) during the auspicious Tamil month of Marghazi (December-January) with delicacies like the Sellur Appam specially made during this month. The temple’s famous thick Sambara dosai is available around the year and features a hint of dry ginger powder and peppercorns.

4. The Milagu (Pepper) Vada at the Alwarpet Anjaneyar Temple: It’s a tradition to offer Lord Hanuman garlands strung together with pepper vadas. These vadas have a longer shelf life than the conventional vada served at breakfast and are thin and crisp. The Milagu Vada at this busy Hanuman temple in Chennai is amongst the city’s favourite vadas. 

5. The Panchamirtham at Pazhani Temple: This temple is among the Aaru Padai Veedu (Six holy abodes of Murugan) and is world famous for its Panchamirtham, one of the oldest preserves or fruit mixes. Bananas, ghee, seedless dates, cardamom and sugar candy come together in this preserve which tastes better with time and doesn't require refrigeration.

6. Salt Free Delicacies at the Uppliappan Temple near Kumbakonam: This 8th Century medieval Chola temple is surrounded with legends about its presiding deity – Uppliappan (an incarnation of Lord Vishnu who is believed to have eaten food without any salt – hence the name). The neiveitheyam (food offering) – the curd rice and vada are very popular, are all prepared without salt and are yet very tasty.

7. Tamarind rice at the Brihadeeshwara Temple, Thanjavur: Sunset at this glorious 1000-year old Chola temple is one of the most spectacular sights in Tamil Nadu. Once you visit the main shrine and take in the sunset, head straight to the temple canteen and buy a portion of the tamarind rice. Despite the large crowds it’s still possible to find a quiet corner where you can savour the tamarind rice and other delicacies from the temple kitchen.