BHUBANESWAR, INDIA, February 19, 2011: Though Jagannath’s mahaprasad is the most sought-after food by pilgrims in Puri, it has reportedly failed to reach their platter in time these days. The delay in completing the Deities’ daily ritual is taking its toll on availability of the prasad at the temple on time, alleged the shrine’s cooks. Resentment is brewing among the cooks, as they have incurred huge losses due to unsold mahaprasad for the past two days.
Nearly 25,000 devotees relish mahaprasad on any given day. On festive occasions, Mahaprasad is prepared for nearly 100,000 devotees daily. Sources said at least 15 varieties of vegetarian items are prepared four times a day in the temple.
Around 400 cooks prepare the sumptuous food inside the temple kitchen, which is considered as the world’s biggest temple kitchen. ‘Mahaprasad becomes ready by lunch time. But we can’t sell the food because the rituals are not completed in time by priests in the afternoon. Thousands of devotees wait for hours and yet return empty handed,’ Mahasuar said.
‘Not only pilgrims are deprived of the prasad, but those who require it in bulk for family functions and religious and social occasions also bear the brunt. Pilgrims and Mahaprasad vendors suffer primarily because of the delay in completion of rituals,’ Padmanabh Mahasuar, secretary of Suar Mahasuar Nijog, a body of the shrine cooks, said.