Temple prasadam and annadanam

What it is

Prasadam can be as small as a spoon of sweetened water, a piece of fruit or a pinch of sugar pressed into the palm after worship. It can also be a signature sweet tied to one shrine, such as the laddu of Tirumala. Annadanam is a full meal: rice, lentil curry, a vegetable, buttermilk and often a sweet, served in a dining hall on leaf plates or steel trays. It is given free to anyone, and donors pay for it as an act of merit.

How it is prepared

Temple kitchens follow strict rules of purity. Cooks bathe first and often belong to families that have done the work for generations. The food is vegetarian, and many temples cook without onion or garlic. Nothing is tasted during cooking, because the deity must be the first to receive it. At the Jagannath Temple in Puri, food is cooked in clay pots over wood fires, offered, and then sold and shared in a market inside the temple as Mahaprasad.

How it works

After seeing the deity, you receive prasadam from a priest or at a counter. For a meal, you join the queue for the dining hall. Some large temples issue free tokens with a time. Diners sit in rows, on the floor or at long tables, and volunteers serve each item along the line. Meals are served at set hours, usually around midday and again in the evening. You eat what is given, and you leave nothing.

How to do it

1. Remove your shoes and follow the temple's dress rules.
2. Receive prasadam in your right hand, with the left hand cupped beneath.
3. For a meal, ask for the annadanam hall and its serving times.
4. Sit in the row and wait until everyone has been served.
5. Eat with your right hand, then wash at the taps outside.

Good manners

• Never refuse prasadam, and never throw it away. Share what you cannot eat.
• Do not smell or taste food meant as an offering before it is offered.
• Some temples admit only Hindus to the inner areas. Check before visiting.

What is eaten

Tirupati LadduTemple sweet made of gram flour, ghee, cashew and cardamom, given as prasadam in TirupatiPongalRice cooked in milk, central to the Tamil harvest festivalPanchamritaA sacred blend of five sweet ingredients offered in Hindu and Jain ritualsKhichdiRice and lentils cooked together, often with vegetables and spicesKheerA sweet pudding of rice, milk and sugar, flavoured with cardamom and nutsModakA sweet dumpling with coconut and jaggery, offered in Hindu and Buddhist ritualsCurd riceSteamed rice mixed with yogurt and seasoned with spicesMahaprasadSanctified vegetarian food served at the Jagannath Temple in Puri, Odisha

Also part of it, and being written: Pulihora.

Sources and further reading

• Prasada on Wikipedia
• Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams: official site
• BBC Religions: Hindu worship