Divine Dishes

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Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

 

 

 

,

 

" Divine " Dishes

 

 

Every one of us is extremely partial to some item of food or the other. For some

of us, it is mostly generic, with a liking, say, for sweets in any shape or

form. Some with an extremely sweet tooth, for instance, would consume even raw

sugar. Some others' fascination is confined to a specific sweet, say, for

instance, the MysorepAk. Their infatuation doesn't extend to other preparations.

Yet others can't stand sweets in any form and prefer savoury preparations

instead. These likes and dislikes extend to specific items of food too, with

some hanging their tongues out in anticipation of the veN Pongal that is served

as prasAdam during Margazhi, while some can't stand the sight of the Brinjal

(egg plant). These attractions and aversions are formed during childhood itself,

with our developing taste and distaste for specific items of food or

" BhakshaNam " . I remember a person who used to travel miles to have a taste of my

mother's " Paruppu usili " -such is the extent to which we let our palates rule us.

 

 

 

At times I wonder whether we are a race who delight in consuming sweets and

savouries by the tonne, on the pretext of celebrating various festivals. If only

we turn our thoughts to it, we would find that all our festivities invariably

end in a sumptuous treat to the stomach. Be it secular festivals or those based

on a specific divine event like the birthday of the Lord in His various forms,

they are invariably accompanied by tasty preparations. The best of the lot, of

course, is Sri Jayanti, for which 18 different types of BhakshaNam are prepared.

As children, we used to look forward to Sri Jayanti so much, for the opportunity

it afforded for us to gorge ourselves with our favourite dishes. This was next

in popularity only to Deepavali, which had the added attraction of crackers new

clothes.

 

 

 

Are we such gluttons to feast ourselves on various delicacies at the slightest

excuse, or does the practice stem from other reasons than our own partiality for

food in any and every form?

 

 

 

As in other matters, here too the Scripture comes to our rescue with a ready

answer.

 

 

 

It is because the Lord likes these gourmet items that we prepare them and, after

offering the same to Him, consume them as His prasAdam. This is not a specious

excuse to indulge our fancy for food, but the gospel truth as enunciated by

Azhwars. We find that the Lord does have favourite items of food and snacks,

which His mothers, devotees and acolytes have offered Him traditionally. In many

of His avataras, the Lord has displayed partiality to certain items of food and

drink, which has been faithfully chronicled by the Scripture.

 

 

 

Let us take Sri Krishna first-for, whenever we think of eating, drinking and

being merry, it is the Kutti Krishna who comes to our mind. The gallons of milk

and curds He must have consumed and the tonnes of butter He must have stolen and

partaken of in the boisterous company of His cohorts, would indeed defy

quantification.

 

 

 

" pottha uralai kavizhtthu adan mEl Eri

 

tittittha pAlum tadAvinil veNNaiyum

 

mettha tiru vayirAra vizhungiya

 

attan vandu ennai puram pulguvAn EmpirAn ennai puram pulguvAn "

 

Says His biographer Sri PeriyAzhwar, telling us how the Boy Wonder used to reach

vessels of milk, curds and butter hung up high from the ceilings and fill His

capacious stomach with these dairy products.

 

 

 

Apart from an insatiable appetite for milk and its derivatives, Sri Krishna is

also a gourmet, with a taste for choice delicacies, if Azhwar is to be believed.

He is extremely fond of " appam " , which Sri Yasoda uses as a bait for enticing

the Divine Toddler to have His ears pierced-

 

 

 

" pErtthum periya appam taruvan PirAnE!..nee ingE vArAi "

 

 

 

Not any common appam, but a big one is what Sri Krishna likes- " periya appam " .

And another type of appam the Lord is fond of is the one boiled in sweet milk-

 

 

 

" appam kalanda chittruNdi akkAram pAlil kalandu

 

soppada nAn suttu vaitthEn tinnal urudiyEl Nambi! "

 

 

 

It can be observed that Azhwar speaks of " ChittruruNdai " , known today as the

" Seeyan " .

 

One more delicacy the Lord is extremely fond of is the " Seedai " , the small balls

of flour mixed with butter and fried in oil, which provide Him a nice change

from His staple food of sweets. Even this item, the Lord likes in two forms, one

the " uppu seedai " which is a savoury and the other, the " Vella seedai " , a sweet.

 

 

 

It would appear that anything mixed with jaggery or sugar is pleasing to Sri

Krishna-even mere grains of sesame. Thus " eLLurundai " or balls of sesame dipped

in jaggery syrup, are His favourites. For those who don't believe the aforesaid

about the " Seedai " and " eLLurundai " , here are the lines from Sri Vishnuchitta's

pasuram, incorporating Sri Yasoda's bid to woo Sri Krishna with promises of

these delicacies-

 

 

 

" Kannalil attuvatthOdu seedai kAr eLLin uNdai kalatthilittu

 

ennagam endru nAn vaitthu pOndEn ivan pukku avattrai perutthi pOndAn "

 

 

 

Who said that Sri Krishna stole only milk and butter? No item of food,

especially the tasty tidbits, is proof from pinching or pilfering by the Lord,

as is evident from the aforesaid pasuram.

 

 

 

After a sumptuous partaking of various types of " BhakshaNam " , what does the Lord

have for dessert? Fruits of different hues and tastes, of course. Of the

latter variety, the Jack Fruit is His one of His favourites. We get to know this

from Sri Yasoda's offer of the fruit to Sri Krishna, as an incentive for His

consenting to have His ears pierced-

 

 

 

" Ik kadippu ittAl iniya palA pazham tandu kaNa nandraNi mulai uNna taruvan "

 

 

 

The " nAval pazham " is another of His favourites, says Sri Periyazhwar-

 

" nAval pazham koNdu vaitthEn " .

 

 

 

Also, it would appear that the more sour the fruits, the greater is the Lord's

liking for them-the product of the Tamarind Tree ( " PuLiyam pinju " ), the fruit of

the Cane tree ( " Pirappam pazham " ), the " KaLAkkAi " -all of these are indeed tasty

tidbits for the Lord.

 

 

 

It is all these items, which, till today, form the offering to the Lord on His

birthday-the Krishna Jayanti. It is the culinary traditions set by Sri Yasoda,

as confirmed by Sri Periyazhwar, that we follow till date, in deciding what

delicacies are to be offered to Him. Thus the " Murukku " , " tEn kuzhal " ,

" atirasam " , Vella Seedai " , " uppu Seedai " , " ManOharam " , " ManOnbu " , " SOmAsi " ,

" Tattai " , " laddu " , " appam " , " Seeyan " , various uruNdais from " poruviLangA

urundai " , " Ravai uruNdai " , " Payattha uruNdai " etc.-all these eighteen types of

preparations form the menu for the Lord's feast on Sri Jayanti till today, in

conformity with the hoary traditions set by Yasoda Piraatti. And, to ensure that

the Kutti Krishnan doesn't develop indigestion from all these culinary marvels,

we also offer Him " Chukku vellam " as a digestive pill. This is indeed laughable,

for, would the Lord who swallows and houses all the worlds in His spacious

stomach during the Cosmic Deluge ( " Pralayam " ), develop indigestion merely due to

a few sweets and snacks? It is Yasoda's motherly love and not the Lord's need

for a digestive enzyme, that makes Her offer " Chukku Vellam " to the " ulagam uNda

peru vAyan " .

 

 

 

In comparison with Sri Krishna, who appears to be a gourmet and connoisseur, Sri

Rama seems to have been an Emperuman with fairly simple tastes. He appears to

have been extremely satisfied with the common jungle fruits offered with love by

Sri Sabhari and the millets, honey etc. submitted with devotion by Sri Guha

Perumal. It is true that Sri BharadvAja Maharshi treated Him to a sumptuous

feast at the end of His vanavAsam, but throughout His fourteen years in the

forest, Sri Raghunandana appears to have eaten little but fruits and roots. This

is perhaps the reason for the extremely simple traditional offering of diluted

butter milk ( " neer more " ) " pAnakam " and " vadai paruppu " on the day of Sri Rama

Navami. Considering the relatively simple fare that is offered to Sri Rama,

don't you think it is a misnomer to call a person fond of food as " SAppAttu

Raman " ?

 

 

 

The favourite drink of Sri Nrsimha appears to be water mixed with

jaggery- " PAnakam " . Whichever sannidhi we go to, we find this Lion God

propitiated with " PAnakam " . Till today, there is the tradition of offering this

sweetened water every evening to Sri MAlOla, at the Sri Ahobila Matham. And you

must have heard of the " PAnaka Nrisimhan " in Andhra Pradesh, who, irrespective

of the quantity of " PAnakam " poured into His cavernous mouth, accepts half the

offering and returns the other half as prAsadam, signifying His insatiable

appetite for this drink.

 

 

 

Akin to their counterparts in the Vibhava avatArAs, many of the moorthies in the

arcchAvatAra, reigning splendorously at the numerous sannidhis, have

predilections for certain types of food, snacks or drinks.

 

 

 

We thus come to know of Sri TirumAlirum SOlai azhagar's liking for " akkAra

adisil " , from Sri Andal's pasuram-

 

 

 

" nAru narum pozhil Malirum sOlai nambikku nAn

 

nooru tadA nirainda akkAra adisil sonnEn "

 

 

 

Tradition has it that though Sri Andal spoke of offering a hundred cauldrons

full of this delicacy to the azhagar PirAn, it was Sri Ramanuja who actually

made it a reality.

 

 

 

The moment we think of Tirumala, whether Srinivasa comes to our mind or not, it

is the " laddu " and " vadai " (principally the former) which spring to our

thoughts. By the vast quantities of " laddu " that is offered as prasAdam to the

thousands of devotees visiting Tirumala, it is obvious that this Lord is

extremely enamoured of this delicacy. It doesn't need a gourmet to discern the

extraordinary taste and delight that only the Tirupati laddu can afford to our

taste buds. You may make the " laddu " at home with the costliest and choicest of

high-quality ingredients, but its taste would never equal that of the Tirumala

product, the difference being due to the latter being Bhagavat PrasAdam while

the former is merely a product of our kitchen.

 

 

 

Similarly, Sri Parthasarathi of TiruvallikkENi appears to be fond of Sakkarai

Pongal. Devotees who have tasted this delicacy at this Sannidhi would attest to

its conforming to the standards set for the same by Sri KOdai Naachiar- " pAl sOru

mooda nei peidu muzhangai vazhi vAra " . And it is a hoary tradition to offer the

Lord Sakkarai Pongal on the days in MArgazhi on which the pAsurams " nAyakanAi

nindra nandagOpan " and " KoodArai vellum seer GovindA! " are recited.

 

 

 

The TiruppullANi Emperuman's favourite dish is the " pAl pAyasam " , a milk-based

preparation with a divine taste indeed.

 

 

 

Sri Sowmya nArayaNa PerumAL of TirukkOshithiyUr likes " KalkaNdu sAdam " , which is

a rare delicacy to be offered only to this Emperuman, especially during His

TeppOtsavam during MAsi mAsam.

 

 

 

In tune with His preeminence, the Sleeping Lord of Srirangam consumes daily an

astonishing variety of " BhakshaNams " , including the rather strange one of

" ROti " , the latter as a concession to the Tulukka NachiAr, the Muslim princess

who became one of His Consorts, reflecting the universal appeal, cutting across

faiths, that the boundless beauty and auspicious attributes of Sri Ranganatha

have. Sri Ranga nAcchiAr likes " Putu " , as is evident from the frequency with

which it is offered to Her.

 

 

 

Salt is supposed to be the basic seasoning for all eatables, without which food

tastes flat and insipid. So much so that the adage tells us that anything

without salt is fit only to be consigned to the dustbin- " uppillA paNdam

kuppayilE " . However, at TiruviNnagaram, the Lord likes all His offerings without

a grain of salt. Thus, " oppiliyappan " also doubles as " uppili appan " , consuming

all the paNiyArams without a single grain of salt. Miraculously, even to those

of us who have extremely sensitive taste buds, the prasAdams of this Emperuman,

when tasted within the temple precincts, do not appear to be lacking in any way

and are indeed a delicious treat.

 

 

 

This predilection for particular delicacies doesn't stop with the Lord-it

extends to His devotees too, whom we venerate equally. Sri GaruthmAn of nAcchiAr

KOil, for instance, is offered " amrita kalasam " , a delicacy prepared from grated

coconut, jaggery etc. If Periya Tiruvadi likes these, then Siriya Tiruvadi is

not far behind, with a weakness for " Vadai " -he likes " Vadai " so much that he

even wears a hundred of them around his neck as a garland- " Vadai mAlai " . Sri

Hanuman is also rumoured to like " Dadhyannam " or " Tayir sAdam " .

 

 

 

Considering all this, is it any wonder that our SampradAyam is known as the

" MadaippaLLi SampradAyam " or the " YatIsvara MahAnasa SampradAyam " ?

 

 

 

Srimate Sri LakshmINrisimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri narayana

Yatindra mahadesikaya nama:

 

dasan, sadagopan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

SrI:

SrImathE Gopaladesika mahadesikaya namah:

Dear Sri Sadagopan Iyengar Swamin,

 

Pelase accept dAsan's dhandavath praNamams.

 

A very wonderful article enlisting variuos bhakshNams and about the

various srivaishnava dhivya desams and the prasadams offered to

Kutti KaNNan, Raman and Nrusingan.

 

What a great narration connecting the delicacies so tastily and

describing as if you are making them and offering to the Lord...

Bhagavad prasAdams always taste better. I like the way you mentioedn

about Thiruppathi laddu. Very true.

 

In the fast world today many of the dishes mentioned will soon

become extinct. It brings memories of those days when my paatti used

to make all these 18 kinds of bhakshaNams.

 

Thanks for the mouth watering post.

Your articles are amazing and are very much enjoyable.

Please keep posting..

Regards

Namo narayana

dAsan

 

 

, sadagopaniyengar

<sadagopaniyengar@v...> wrote:

>

> Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya

nama:

>

>

>

> ,

>

> " Divine " Dishes

>

>

> Every one of us is extremely partial to some item of food or the

other. For some of us, it is mostly generic, with a liking, say, for

sweets in any shape or form. Some with an extremely sweet tooth, for