Puri Temple kitchen – A sneak peek

S Balakrishnan
Recently, on a pilgrimage to Shri Jagannatha Temple in Puri, we had the opportunity to sneak peek into the sacred kitchen of the temple and learn about its unique features:  The food that is prepared in the kitchen and offered to the brother-sister trio gods of the temple (Shri Balabhadra, Shri Jagannatha and their sister Subhadra) is revered as the Maha Prasada. This is of two types; one is ‘Sankudi mahaprasad’ that includes items like rice and varieties of rice and dishes like dhal. dalma, vegetable curries of different types, Saaga Bhaja (greens), Khatta, porridge (kheer),fruits, etc.The other, called Shukhila mahaprasad, consists of dry sweets. Among this ‘khaja’ is the most popular sweet item; this is made of maida, fried and dipped in sugar syrup. Next to Lord  Jagannath, khaja is omnipresent in Puri! In all, the food offering (bhog) is done six times daily, from morning to night, and the food items offered number as many as 56.
We were going around the temple disappointed, unable to have a second darshan because of the unbearable heat even in October and the heavy rush of devotees on that Sunday. Then a guide approached us to take us around the ‘kothabhoga’ (kitchen) though a board said visitors are not allowed inside. Well, to be frank, nobody is allowed into the actual kitchen but we can go around it, and that was exactly what the guide meant.  We saw the two wells within the kitchen area that are called Ganga and Yamuna; scores of ‘Kothabhoga Pania’ (Sevaks/ servitors designated as such for drawing water from these two wells for supply to the kitchen) were manually drawing water from these wells and carrying it in earthen pots climbing up & down the steps to the kitchen. They pour the water into the kitchen through holes provided in the kitchen wall, as they are not allowed inside the kitchen. No motor pump is used to draw and supply the well water to the kothabhoga!
The massive kitchen (maybe of size 150 ft x 150 ft) uses only firewood to cook the prasad. This again is carried as head load from outside the temple all the way to the kitchen and placed in the slots on the kitchen wall, to be pulled inside by the cooks (Suars), because they are also not allowed entry into the kitchen.  Through these slots we saw rows of stoves with nine pots (or is it 7) placed on each stove.  Only earthen pots are used for cooking the mahaprasada and they are not used again. Handijoganiatolabati are the sevaks who supply earthen pots to the temple kitchen.  The temple kitchen has the capacity to provide mahaprasada to one lakh devotees daily!  Onion, garlic and non-indigenous vegetables are not used for mahaprasada preparation.  The massive and most active kitchen takes rest during RathaJatra period when Mahaprasad is not offered from day one till the Trio return to their throne from Gundicha Mandir.
Goddess Lakshmi is believed to cook the prasad, hence it tastes so good. There is a small shrine within the precincts of the kitchen area for Agni Bhagwan(Fire God) who is worshipped first before lighting the stoves/ovens for preparation of maha prasad. The steam cooked food is offered to the Trio and then Goddess Bimala Devi after which only it becomes Maha Prasada. It is said that when the food is carried from the kitchen to the temple it does not emit any aroma/flavour, but when it is carried back after offering to the gods the aroma emanates from the prasada. There is a separate passage in the south-eastern corner to connect the kitchen to bhoga mandap (prasada offering hall). It is said that neither has the cooked food remained undistributed nor any devotee gone without getting the prasada – neither extra nor insufficient.
On the other direction, on the north-eastern corner inside the temple, is the Ananda Bazar where mahaprasada is sold to the devotees; it has facilities for partaking of the prasada.  I was surprised that Puri Temple does not offer free prasada to the devotees though Annadhan donation is collected! A limited plate (thali) of prasada (consisting rice, dal, vegetable curries, greens, sweet poha, etc.,) is sold for 100 rupees; it was tasty but insufficient. We also bought one medium box of dry sweet maha prasad for 100 rupees. It is the sole right of the Suar/ Mahasuarsevaks (the cook servitors) to sell the prasada. It is sold in the Ananda Bazar as well as outside the temple. We saw it being supplied to a hotel also. For many Puri citizens this is their daily food. It is considered a blessing to have the mahaprasada served at family functions/ ceremonies at homes. It is sold in smaller pots also, as per need. A drawback is that the mahaprasad is carried/transported without covering the earthen pots.
Initially, there were only 36 categories of temple sevaks (servitors); but now there are 119 sevak categories; they are mostly hereditary. Of these 119, a good portion belong to the temple kitchen, like Patajoshi Mohapatra who supervises the daily preparation of bhoga offerings hence called Bhoga-Parichha; Talichha Mahapatra controls and checks the purity of the kitchen; Panikipata – cutting vegetables (we saw scores of them cleaning & cutting the vegetables and scrapping coconut);  Kothabhoga Yogania – supply of groceries from the store to the kitchen and handing them over to ‘roshapaika’; Rosha Paika – intimation to the servitors regarding kitchen affairs; SuarNijog and Mahasuara – ensuring cleanliness of kitchen; checks the suitability ofnaibedya (cooked offering) and follows all rituals before and after the offering; Jagia Mahasuara or Rosha Amina – inspection of consecrated food preparation; Badusuar, Thali Tuna and Amalu Suar – cake & sweet preparation; Tolabadu – transportation of food to the sanctum for offering; Roshadhopakhalia – kitchen & oven cleaning ; birimundasamartha – rice & black gram grinding; Nikapa&gandhananikapa – grinding spices for rajabhoga; Biribuha – transporting ground items to the kitchen kothabhoga; Paniapata – utensil cleaning; Prasada Badu, Badu Mohapatra – responsible for supply of mahaprasada in tata (containers) from the temple to the Puri King’s palace (Srinahara); Tatua – transportation of tata (containers) of mahaprasada to Srinahara; Patarabandha – supply of leaves for packing mahaprasad (discontinued); Chaulabachchakarana- service of refining rice for preparation of raj bhog, and other such sevak categories as well!
Initially hesitant, I found the Puri temple kitchen visit quite ‘tasty’, revealing its traditions and unique style of functioning! The only mystery is why annadhan (free prasad) is not provided by this wealthy temple at least to deserving devotees who throng the temple from the farthest corners of our country with prayers of Jai Jagannathji! As I finished writing this, the next morning, as if by magic, the news was that the Puri Temple has decided to provide free Annadhan to the devotees; this would cost Rs. 15 crores (annually?)
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