DINAMALAR NEWS

 

Centre mulls setting up standards for alcoholic beverages

New Delhi, May 3 (PTI) The Centre is planning to fix quality standards for alcoholic beverages, including beer and whisky, the Rajya Sabha was informed today.

"The draft on the standards for alcoholic beverages was approved by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India in its meeting held on September 9 last year and has been notified to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Technical Barriers to trade and WTO Sanitary and Photo Sanitation members countries," Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda in a written reply said.

"This will be finalised after examination of the comments and suggestions received from the stakeholders," Nadda said.

Some midday meal samples fail the test in Karnataka

Samples were testedin accredited labs on the basis of microbiological and chemical parameters

Nearly 26 per cent of the midday meal samples in the State, tested in the 2015-2016 academic year, did not pass the test.

Of the 23 samples, six were found to be below par. In fact, three food samples in Kolar district were found to have E-coli in both the sambar and cooked rice, and unfit for human consumption.

These samples were tested in accredited laboratories on the basis of microbiological and chemical parameters. The findings were revealed in the minutes of a meeting of the Programme Approval Board for the Mid-Day Meal Scheme in February in the presence of top officials from the Ministry of Human Resource and Development.

A source in the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) said, “We have found that places where the midday meal did not pass the test had water sources that were contaminated.” The minutes of the meeting, a copy of which is with The Hindu states that the State government has reportedly sent directions to schools to install purified drinking water through the zilla parishads. In addition, cooks have been given a detailed set of guidelines regarding personal hygiene. State president of the Karnataka Rajya Akshara Dasoha Naukarara Sanga, S. Varalakshmi, said there is a need for the government to ensure that all schools had access to clean drinking water. She also pointed out that there is a need to check the quality of foodgrains being used.

Another area of concern was the quality of food being served from centralised kitchens run by various non-governmental organisations. It was observed that meals prepared by centralised kitchens had fewer vegetables. The government of India has advised the State government to pay attention to the time taken to transport food as well as the temperature that needs to be maintained while transporting food from centralised kitchens to schools.

Midday meal samples fail the test in Karnataka

Almost 26 per cent of the midday meal samples in Karnataka tested in 2015-2016 fail the test.

Contaminated food samples were found in the test

At least twenty three food samples that were tested six were found to be below average. The three food samples in Kolar district were found to have E-coli in both the sambar and cooked rice, and unfit for human consumption. 

Samples were tested on the basis of Microbiological and Chemical parameters

These samples were tested on the basis of microbiological and chemical parameters in accredited laboratories in the state. The findings were revealed in the meeting of the Programme Approval Board for the Mid-Day Meal Scheme attended by the top officials from the Ministry of Human Resource and Development in February. 

A source in the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) said, "We have found that places where the midday meal did not pass the test had water sources that were contaminated." 

State government instructed the schools to install purified drinking water

The Hindu has accessed notes of the meeting and it states that the State government has reportedly sent directions to schools to install purified drinking water through the zilla parishads. In addition, cooks have been given a detailed set of guidelines regarding personal hygiene. 

Voice of the State President of Karnataka Rajya Akshara Dasoha Naukarara Sanga

State president of the Karnataka Rajya Akshara Dasoha Naukarara Sanga, S. Varalakshmi, said that the government should ensure that all schools had access to clean drinking water and also pointed out that there is a need to check the quality of food grains being used.

Food for gods comes under FSSAI scanner

Food regulator FSSAI wants the ‘prasadam’ of several popular places of worship to follow safety standards it prescribes

Having exercised its will over companies, local and multinational, India’s food regulator has now set its sights higher— heavenwards.

It wants the prasadam (aka prasad or bhog; usually a food offering) of several popular places of worship to follow safety standards it prescribes.

“We are working on how to ensure safety of prasad that the temples distribute. We’ve begun some work with some of the famous ones like Shree Siddhivinayak temple in Mumbai, Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple in Tirupati and Sai Baba temple in Shirdi, to figure out a model that can be replicated across all religious places in the country,” said Pawan Kumar Agarwal, chief executive officer at Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).

Every day, more than 60,000 devotees visit the Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple in Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh. On special religious occasions, the number is even more. The temple is famous for its laddus, offered asprasadam.

Indeed, many places of worship are famous for theirprasadam. Mint’s Sunday magazine Mint on Sunday runs a series on this, Sacred Food.(bit.ly/24iT84s )

Not all prasadam are in sealed packets. Nor are the ingredients mentioned. And there is no concept of a “best by” date.

According to the 2001 Census, India has 2.4 million places of worship visited by 300 million people every day. There are temples, mosques, gurudwaras, and churches. And FSSAI wants all of them to follow the rules.

“It will not be an easy task because it has to do with institutions linked to social, religious and cultural issues. But it will happen,” said Agarwal, who says he believes that the food regulator has to ensure safe food for “every citizen at every point where food is produced and, or, distributed for mass consumption”.

“Authorities of these religious institutions will have to take licences from the FSSAI. If they source food from outside vendors, those will also have to have an FSSAI licence,” he added.

The regulator plans to carry out periodic inspections as well.

“There is a need for building public confidence.In exceptional circumstances, we’ll use the provisions of the law,” Agarwal said.

But it may not be as easy as that. Many places of worship insist they already follow the best safety standards while preparing prasadam. After all, many claim, it is meant for the Lord.

Sacred food

“Prasadam is first given to God. It is pure. We already take extra care of ensuring safety, purity, hygiene and everything that is required,” said a spokesperson of The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), the trust which operates and manages the Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple in Tirupati. “We have our own rules. We always source the best quality ingredients. Every vendor needs to meet the standards set by the temple authority,” the spokesperson added.

Ravi Yadav, deputy executive officer of Shree Siddhivinayak Ganapati Mandir Nyas (Prabhadevi) Trust that manages Mumbai’s popular Siddhivinayak temple echoed those sentiments. “We follow strict rules to ensure safety and hygiene. There are many checks for both in-house preparations and supply from third-party vendors. The state government is also involved in managing the temple.” For good measure, Yadav added: “Prasadam is what is offered to God. Nobody will mess with that.”

Still, the temple trust has been open-minded enough to start work with FSSAI. The regulator, the Association of Food Scientists and Technologists of India and the trust are working on a project to standardize the process of preparing prasadam ensuring hygiene and safety, and adhering to the provisions of the FSSAI Act, 2011. The project will serve as the template and food safety regulations for religious places will be finalized after it is complete.

Not everyone is convinced licensing is the right way to ensure quality of prasadam.

“When you cook for the Lord, there are always extra layers of care. A proper guideline to ensure safety and hygiene would definitely be helpful. But making licences mandatory may not be the best thing. It is a religious matter and everyone will do the best they can voluntarily,” said a spokesperson at The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon).

Licensing also raises the spectre of bureaucracy.

“We do our own bit to keep things very safe. Even third-party vendors are chosen carefully. Guidelines will be helpful. But licencing should not happen the ‘licence raj’ way,” said Peerzada Altamash Nizami, a direct descendant of Nizamuddin Auliya who is part of the Hazrat Nizamuddin dargah committee.

S. Mohinder Paul Singh Chadha, senior vice-president of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, declined comment on the issue.

Father Joseph Chinnayyan, deputy secretary general and director of the CBCI Centre, the headquarters of Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, did not respond to calls seeking comment.

Despite ban, gutkha-pan masala sale continue in Shillong

SHILLONG, May 2: Despite the prohibition from the Deputy Commissioner of Foods Safety, State Food Safety and Standards Authority, Shillong in 2014 to manufacture, storage, transport, sale or distribution of Guthka and Pan Masala containing tobacco and nicotine as ingredients in Meghalaya, however even today it has not hindered the sale of the items in the city.

It may be mentioned that the storage and sale of Guthka and Pan Masala has been prohibited under sub section (2) of section 30 of the Food Safety And Standards Act, 2006 for a period of one year in the interest of the public health.

Speaking to The Sentinel Deputy Commissioner of Foods Safety SN Sangma, said, “The selling of Guthka and Pan Masala is a serious matter and we are planning to extend the ban by another year once the notification comes and we will be sending our enforcement agencies to check that no one is selling the prohibited products.”

He informed that that the matter will also be taken up with the Deputy Commissioner East Khasi Hills district PS Dkhar.

“We will also request the DC to depute some officers and enforcement personnel whenever we decided to go for a surprise checking in order to stop the selling for such items,” he said.

Asked on the delay in conducting such checking drive, he said, “We have been occupied with the recent issues like the PHE water besides other issues.”

He said that if people are found selling the items in spite of the prohibition then serious action will be taken against them.

“We will try to get everything done by this month in order to chalk out an action plan to completely eradicate Guthka and Pan Masala containing tobacco and nicotine from the state,” he said.

PIL puts maida lovers in sticky spot

Probe Use of Chemicals In 3 Mths: Court

Lovers of maidamade parotta, puri and other snacks, stomach this: The Madras high court has given the Tamil Nadu government three months to complete a probe to ascertain if chemicals such as alloxen and benzoic peroxide or chlorine oxide are added to maida (white flour), and take appropriate action if the answer is `yes.' While alloxen causes `insulin-dependent diabetes', benzoyl peroxide is used for bleaching flour, hair and teeth.

In his PIL, K Rajendran of In his PIL, K Rajendran of Vedaranyam wanted the court to direct the authorities to take action on his representation seeking complete ban on the manufacture, marketing and consumption alloxen-rich white flour. Use of certain chemicals, including chlorine oxide and benzoic peroxide, had been banned in the US, he said. The bleaching of flour destroyed nutrient values and dilatory fibre of wheat, he said. Whitening was dangerous and bleached flour was nothing but `white death', called `slow poison' by doctors.

The first bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice M M Sundresh, before which the PIL came up for hearing, gave the direction to the authorities. “The representation of the petitioner dated March 14, is to be examined. He has made his own research and inquiry, and if what is alleged is found to be correct, to proceed in accordance with law. Necessary action may be taken within three months,“ said the judges.

While pointing out that the petitioner had no expertise to prove the `undesirable chemicals as a white agent' in maida, the judges said: “The issue, however, is important and our concern is that the cause does not get damaged because the petitioner has no expertise in the field. At this stage thus, [we] only issue a direction to the authorities to examine the representation made by the petitioner on March 14, 2016.If what is alleged is found to be correct, proceed in accordance with law.“ According to the petitioner, alloxen-mixed maida is prepared after removing the roughage of wheat and dietary fibre starches. It is also bleached using benzoic peroxide or chlorine oxide. Citing the opinions of scientists and research scholars, he opined that alloxin was present in the bleached white flour, popularly called maida. Alloxin is used in healthy laboratory animals to induce diabetes, he said. The intake of food stuff made of maida would kill beta cells of pancreas, he added.

When he filed applications under the Right To Information (RTI) and submitted petitions, to find out the extent of presence of these chemicals in maida, the officials concerned did not respond for months, constraining him to file the present PIL, Rajendran said.

FSSA Ordered to Probe Allegations of Chemical Adulteration in Maida

CHENNAI: The Food Safety and Standard Authority (FSSA) in Chennai has been directed by the Madras High Court to examine within three months an allegation that ‘maida’ is being adulterated by mixing certain chemicals by the manufacturers and to take appropriate action if it is found true.

The First Bench of Chief Justice SK Kaul and Justice MM Sundresh gave this direction last week, while disposing of a PIL from K Rajendran of Thethakudi South in Vedaranyam taluk, which prayed for a direction from the court to the FSSA to act on his representation and to ban the manufacturing and marketing and consuming of “Alloxen-contained white flour.”

The representation of the petitioner dated March 14 this year is to be examined by making its own research and enquiry in the field and if what is alleged is found correct, the authority should proceed in accordance with law, the bench said.

According to advocate T Anandhi, alloxen- contained maida flour is prepared by removing the roughage or dietary fibre starches and bleached using “benzoic peroxide or chlorine oxide”. In addition to bleaching, it is softened by mixing alloxen, which is used in healthy animals in laboratory to induce diabetes.

The intake of food stuff made out of maida kills beta cells of pancreas and consequently the cells fail to operate normally and they will no longer produce insulin, which will result in diabetes in humans.

Petitioner said that he sought to know more truth through the RTI. As there was no reply, he made a representation to the authority on March 14 last and as it also did not yield any response, he filed the present PIL.

Disposing of the PIL, the Bench said that apparently, the petitioner had no expertise in the field to canvass what is sought to be submitted before us. “The issue, however, is important and our concern is that the cause does not get damaged because the petitioner has no expertise in the field. At this stage, thus we only issue a direction to the authorities to examine the representation made by the petitioner by making its own research and enquiry in the field and if what is alleged is found correct, to proceed in accordance with law”.

Plea for ban on Alloxan

People fond of eating “parotta” or bakery items, including sandwiches made of white bread, might need to think twice before ordering their favourites next time.

A public interest litigation (PIL) moved before the Madras High Court has alleged that Alloxan - a chemical - is mixed with the white flour or ‘maida’ which induces diabetes.

The First Bench of Chief Justice S.K. Kaul and Justice M.M. Sundresh directed the Food Safety Commissioner to examine the allegation within three months and take action if it is found to be correct.

Recently, K. Rajendran, a resident of Thethakudi South of Vedaranyam taluk, approached the High Court seeking a direction to the authorities to act on a representation he had made to ban mixing of Alloxan in the white flour.

The petitioner alleged that the chemical is used on animals to induce diabetes in them for research purposes. Mr. Rajendran claimed that he filed an RTI application to know the truth whether the chemical was mixed in the flour.

Since there was no response from the authorities, he was compelled to approach the court.

Noting that the issue raised was important, the Bench said, “At this stage we only issue a direction to the authorities to examine the representation and if the allegation is found to be correct to proceed in accordance with law.”

The PIL moved before the HC says the chemical mixed with maida induces diabetes

DINAMANI NEWS

Food Adulteration—a grave issue

 

…testing needs to be done across the board

Hon’ble JK High Court taking suo-motto notice of food adulteration and noting subsequent GK news reports as PIL is being widely welcomed. The issue is grave; there cannot be two opinions about it. It touches people’s lives on a daily basis, hence judicial intervention is timely. There are infrastructural deficits in food administration. The structured mechanism is not in tune with ‘Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA) 2006’. The act sets norms for administrative hierarchy in food administration, which have not been abided by. It is the will of the state government that is questionable. The adage holds, ‘where there is a will, there is a way’.

Hon’ble Court has rightly observed that the latest status report filed by respondents is sufficient to indicate that people of the state have been left to mercy of God. The observation of the Hon’ble Court implies that Aam Admi figures in equation only when votes are needed. Otherwise there is no official compunction, even in as sensitive a matter as food adulteration, which could prove hazardous for people’s lives. In rare instances where officials do act, it is liable to end in an over-drive, where norms set by FSSA are not observed. It could be summed up as too little usually, and in rare instances too much. Either way norms are violated, as rationale is not adopted. 

In a statement that has ‘shaken’ the Hon’ble Court, the official administratively responsible has admitted that there is ‘no paraphernalia available in the state of Jammu and Kashmir in accordance with the mandate contained in provisions of Jammu and Kashmir Food Safety and Standards Act 2006.’ In spite of the admission however, J&K Food Control Organization (FCO) has resorted to banking on inadequately equipped food safety Lab here for testing samples instead of ensuring fool-proof scrutiny of samples outside the State. The plea advanced by the officials, in the present case Assistant Controller JK DFCO makes a poor case. “We are following the statutes of FSSA (Food Safety and Standards Act) 2011. It says that a sample can be sent to a lab other than the state lab only if the officer concerned is not satisfied with the test report,” so said the official. The official fails to explain how satisfactory could be the testing in the face of food commissioner’s admission and the observation of the Hon’ble Court, which was noticeably ‘shaken’ by the admission.

While it is appreciable that official machinery is getting activated after the Hon’ble Court considered subsequent reports by GK as reason enough for judicial intervention, the regret remains that food administration without infrastructural build-up may not be able to accomplish, what it needs to. The administrative hierarchy in place plus scientific structuring for effective monitoring of food products remain questionable. 

Milk samples collected were sent to what the Hon’ble Court observation noted as rickety laboratory facilities. Incidentally milk is an item in which Kashmir Valley is attaining a measure of self-sufficiency. While official supervision is highly appreciated, it may not lead to dampening the growing industry and discouraging entrepreneurship. The growing industry, one of rare success stories in valley is generating much needed employment. 

It is being alleged in business circles that norms entailed in FSSA 2006 are not followed in letter, some are even questioning the spirit behind the action taken. Selective leaks to media spark a media trial, much before the trial in the court of law. From the manner of sample collection to looping in the manufacturer to keep him informed of the charges levelled, much that is entailed in FSSA regulations remain far from being followed. FSSA lays down the number of specimens to be collected, obtaining the signature of the accused on the specimens, and providing the manufacturer the chance to get the questionable product tested in a certified laboratory on his own, in addition to testing undertaken by food administration. Cross checking by getting the product tested in more laboratories than one ensures fairness. The level of charge is also of importance in contemplating action. Charges may vary from lacunae in labelling the product to a product which is sub-standard, and ultimately to the product being potentially hazardous. 

While the Hon’ble Court has justifiably directed owners of food manufacturing and processing units to file affidavits indicating the manner in which they follow FSSA 2006, it is to be seen whether the court directive applies only to local manufacturers, leaving the ones with manufacturing units located outside the state out of its ambit? As such, more or less 95 percent food products marketed in JK State are from processing and manufacturing units located outside the state, hence there is justifiable apprehension in local business circles that the Hon’ble Court observations and directives might put them at a grave disadvantage, leaving out of state manufacturing and processing units free to operate, as they may. It is to be expected that in follow-up of the case, the Hon’ble Court would take a comprehensive look to allay the fears of local manufacturers. 

Yaar Zinda, Sohbat Baqi [Reunion is subordinate to survival]

(The author is doctor in medicine, a social activist, and a senior columnist)

UDUPI: THE PREAMBLE

If the faithful are to be believed, Udupi's temple food is the best. After sampling a veritable feast with pakoras, payasams, gojjus, and more, one has to agree. 

I am standing at the sanctum sanctorum of the Krishna temple in Udupi: the dark-skinned one who some call Shyam; the multi-faceted god who stole butter, danced with milkmaids and yet rendered one of Hindu philosophy’s most profound texts, the Bhagavad Gita. Krishna is one of the most compelling gods in Hinduism, but here in Udupi, he stands as Bala-krishna, young and innocent, holding churned butter in one hand.

Udupi is a small, dusty town no different from those dotting interior India. Its temple and cuisine, however, hold an outsize place in the local, regional, national and even international imagination. Situated between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats, Udupi was founded in the 13th century by the Hindu saint-philosopher Madhvacharya.

The Krishna temple here has many legends associated with it. One story says that Madhvacharya saved a ship in distress along the Konkan coast. The grateful ship’s captain gave him a gopi-chandana, or sandalwood lump, that he used as ballast. Inside the lump was the image of Lord Krishna, which was installed here.

The other story has to do with Kanakadasa, a famous bhakti composer, whose songs are still sung in the state. He was a Kuruba shepherd and was denied entry into the temple. He would stand behind the temple and sing songs. One day, the rear wall collapsed and the Krishna idol turned 180 degrees to face Kanakadasa, still visible at the temple as Kanakadasa’s window or Kanakana-kindi. Devotees like my mother revel in this miracle.

“Look, how the Lord turned to yield to the prayers of a simple devotee,” says my mother as she peers through the window.

“Probably an earthquake that caused the wall to collapse and the idol to turn,” the sceptic in me thinks as I peer through the window.

What makes you a believer, one of the faithful? Some of it has to do with age, I think. When you are young, you have boundless confidence and believe yourself to be infallible, unconquerable. It is only when life gives you some hard knocks, when events happen that are beyond your control, when health takes a beating, or when you have, in some cases, an accident or near-death experience, that you begin to question your assumptions. Some people turn to God at this stage; some are born-again, as Christians say. I am not there yet.

Madhvacharya is huge in Udupi. Wherever you go, people talk about him, almost as if he were alive. “He was such a great debator,” says an elderly pilgrim I meet while standing in line. “Went all over India and defeated the Advaita philosophers.”

That he did. I remember reading in school history books about Madhva’s Dvaita school of Indian philosophy that stood in contrast to Adi Shankara’s Advaita. It must have been a fertile time in India then. Philosophers debating for days (Madhva debated for 15 days at a shot with one pundit); writing commentaries or bhasyas on various Sanskrit texts including the Upanishads; setting up temples; and spreading good works like the Christian saints of yore.

Sri Krishna temple, Udupi. Traditionally, the eight ‘mutts’ or ‘ashta matas’ administer the temple by rotation.

Madhva had a smart succession plan. After his time, he said, worship at the Udupi temple would be taken over by not one, but eight students who would all take turns doing priestly duties for the Lord. This tradition continues as the eight mutts (the word connotes monastery but also spiritual gathering or community) or the ashta matas who administer the temple by rotation.

Originating from these eight mutts, Udupi cuisine is robustly vegetarian and satvik. It forgoes meat and fish and even onions and garlic, focusing instead on whole grains and vegetables.

One of South India’s most popular dishes, the masala dosa, originated in Udupi and with it carried the Udupi prefix to restaurants across the globe. There is an Udupi Café in Monroeville, Pennsylvania, and an Udupi Palace in both England and Germany. All serve vegetarian Indian food, including masala dosas.

According to the book, The Udupi Kitchen, by Malati Srinivasan and Geetha Rao, the masala filling that is hidden within the fold of the dosa came about because the sautéed onions that complement the potato filling were considered taboo by orthodox Brahmins. Previously, the dosas were served with chutney and plain potatopalya, as it is called here in Karnataka. With changing food tastes, the people wanted to eat their cake, or in this case onions, but had to hide it within the dosa.

Today, the masala dosa has been named—rightfully so, in my opinion as an avid masala dosa eater and self-described dosa connoisseur—as one of the 10 foods you have to try before you die, by the Huffington Post in 2012, and one of the world’s 50 most delicious foods, by CNN in 2011.

A fertile strip of land situated between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats, Udupi is lashed by rains during the four months between July and October. This has led to a cuisine that is almost macrobiotic in its adherence to local, seasonal foods. Udupi Brahmins don’t eat certain foods during these four monsoon months, a tradition called chaaturmaasa vratha, that arose perhaps out of seasonal necessity.

Vast quantities of rice are served during the meals at the Krishna temple.

Udupi cuisine focuses on whole grains and vegetables. 

Food being prepared at the Krishna temple.

Udupi cuisine is famous for its chutneys, including one using the skin of the ridge gourd. Its vegetable curries are made from jackfruit, plantain, colocasia and other unusual root vegetables. Most distinctive of all, however, are the gojjus: A spicy sweet sour gravy that contains ground sesame seeds, coconut, jaggery and other spices that flavour the base ingredient, which could be a pineapple or a bittergourd. The Krishna temple in Udupi, as I would find out later, serves all these dishes. For now, I am standing in line amid silk-clad women, all of us eager to see the idol.

It is 11am and the granite floors and pillars offer cool respite against the heat outside. Devotees line up quietly, muttering prayers, hands clasped together fervently. It is a scene familiar to anyone who has visited a temple in India. Swishing saris, the smell of sandal and incense, topless Brahmin priests hurrying between idol and devotee, clanging bells, chanting men and women. For the faithful, Hindu temples inspire devotion, hope and a preternatural peace that descends in spite of the surrounding chaos, as if generations of muttered prayers have muted the soul into peaceful surrender.

The Krishna temple in Udupi is no different. As temples go, it isn’t a rockstar like Tirupati or even Guruvayoor. Fewer people visit, and on that June morning, my mother and I are pretty much left alone to pray in peace. We walk around the sanctum sanctorum many times and peer at the idol. No hustling priests, no crushing crowds, no furtive glances suggesting a small donation for closer access to the deity. It is just us in quiet communion with the Lord.

In one corner, a group of ladies sit in a circle, singing Krishna songs and stringing garlands with lightning fingers. They have separated yellow marigolds from green tulsi and each woman takes a colour. Several string fragrant jasmine. In the opposite corner, a visiting group spreads out their tanpuras and dholaks before commencing a spirited Krishna bhajan.

Near the temple tank, one of the hubs of activity, there are men in dhotis bathing, praying and performing rituals. One monk, clad in saffron robes, sits by himself singing a bhajan that is oddly soothing.

My mother and I sit leaning against the pillars, listening to bhajan mixing with folk song; incense mixing with jasmine and the smell of coconut, milk and honey that comes dripping along with the holy water that is used to bathe the idol every morning. After a while, my mother repeats the phrase that countless others say after their communion with God.

“Let’s go eat.”

Hinduism, like many great religions, is about feasting and fasting, praying and, it must be said, eating prasadam (or holy offerings). The Udupi temple is part of the famed pilgrim’s triumvirate of Udupi-Sringeri-Dharmasthala, all of which serve very good prasadam to thronging devotees. Udupi’s temple food is the best, the faithful tell me. We walk out and turn left to the feeding halls, my mother leading me with the expertise of having spent a lifetime visiting temples.

Indians are funny that way. The elderly in China play mahjong. American senior citizens go on cruises and play golf. Europeans visit museums, tour wineries and dine at Michelin-starred restaurants. Indian elders—and this applies particularly to Hindu women and Catholic couples—visit temples. Pilgrimages are a big part of their lives as I see daily with my septuagenarian aunts and uncles, not to mention my mother. For her latest birthday, I offered my mother the choice between a two-week trip through Europe or a week through interior Maharashtra to visit one of the 12 jyotirling shrines to Lord Shiva. She chose Shiva over the Sistine Chapel.

Udupi is part of my mother’s regular beat since the Mookambika temple of Kollur (which happens to be our family deity) is in the same area. She has visited the temple twice annually for the past 20 years. En route to her Devi, she usually stops to see Krishna.

So we hurry, mom and I, down the corridor, to the feeding area.

“The Brahmins are fed separately. Upstairs,” says my mother.

I wince.

Let me just come right out and say it. Although I grew up in a devout Hindu family, I am uneasy about my religion—about all religions for that matter, for all the usual reasons. Faith gives solace, for sure, but it also inspires guilt. Religion brings people together but it also divides them. It gives peace and causes war; it hurts and heals. Since I come from a fairly traditional devout Tamil Brahmin family, I don’t express my antipathy very much. Instead I disengage, to the extent that it is possible in a religious family such as mine.

I have never been very religious in the ritualistic sense. I don’t do puja, and light our lamp more out of obligation than faith. I have never experienced religious fervour of the kind that the elders in my family talk about. After a long, somewhat circuitous route that involved enforced rituals during childhood, chanting imbibed simply by virtue of being around grandparents and esoteric philosophy spouted during spirited college debates mostly to appear cool, I have decided to access religion in the most benign way possible: through its food. By eating the sacred food given out at temples, churches, mosques and gurudwaras, I will (hopefully) figure out religion’s place in my psyche and my life.

I follow my mother up the stairs to the separate area where we, as Brahmins, will be fed. What about “in the eyes of God, all are equal”, I feel like asking my mother, but she is racing up the stairs.

A priest being served during the meal.

A meal at the Krishna temple. 

Food served on a banana leaf.

Priests doling out food from a metal container.

The hall is huge and people are sitting cross-legged on the floor. Young good-looking boys exuding what my mother calls tejas, or radiance, stride through the hall, carrying giant containers holding rice, rasam, vegetables, sweets and ghee. We take our places. Banana leaves are placed before us. Then a veritable feast with all the regional delicacies appears. There are spicy pakoras, sweetpayasams, brinjal gojjus, jackfruit curry, several chutneys, kosambarisalads, and a mound of rice in the centre.

A bare-chested priest walks down the corridor. With his fair skin and a bright red vermillion dot in the centre of his forehead, he looks resplendent in a purple silk dhoti. Behind him are a line of young ascetics. I stretch my upturned palm like the rest of the congregation. The chief priest pours a little holy water into my palm, which I assume is to wash my hand. “Drink it,” my mother hisses. So I do. I drink the darn well water—who knows how polluted it is and who knows what infection I am catching—before commencing the meal. A young boy comes and distributes Rs10 bills to all of us as dakshina, or fee for eating the meal.

The food is delicious. Barring the jackfruit curry, which must be an acquired taste, I polish it all up. Udupi is justly famous for its rasamand this one doesn’t disappoint. Piquant with a lovely spicy lemony flavour, I drink the rasam twice, then thrice.

We end the meal as we began it: with holy water poured on our upturned palms.

When I started on this endeavour, I didn’t have much of a game plan. After all, I had routinely visited temples all my life and partaken of the prasadam. My ancestors originated in Palghat and so Kerala temples and their thick fragrant nei payasam were practically a summer’s rite of passage, year after year.

Milestones precipitate introspection and turning 40 did that for me. As the mother of two young daughters, the daughter of fairly religious, traditional south Indian parents and in-laws, I had to come to terms with my religion, and indeed all religions. Instead of avoiding and disdaining faith, I had to find my way to include it in my life. For my children’s sake. For my parents’ sake.

I decided that I would visit places of faith, not just Hindu temples but also churches and dargahs. I would go to the ones that served good food. If nothing else, I would eat.

Sacred food as a way of fusing a secular identity with spirituality in some form: that was my plan.

It began naturally with Krishna, not just at Udupi but also at the southern tip of the country, at a place called Ambalapuzha in Kerala.

Shoba Narayan is going to visit Ambalapuzha next to taste the payasam there.