BHUBANESWAR: At Sri Jagannath temple in Puri, the sacred kitchen dishes out Mahaprasad that does not just fill the stomachs of millions but lifts their souls too; because it is almost like the elixir of life for the devotees of the Lord of the Universe. The “rosha ghara” that feeds almost 50,000 pilgrims on an average day - going up to a lakh on special days - also supports hundreds of vegetable farmers who supply their produce to what is described as world’s largest kitchen.
With lockdown in place and entry of devotees banned, the kitchen misses its buzz and the farmers, their livelihood. Now that preparation of ‘Abhada’ (cooked prasad), ‘Baraati Bhog’ (prasad cooked as per people’s orders) limited to a minimum, vegetable growers of Puri district are worried about their fortunes. Never before had they faced a crisis of this magnitude as the temple has remained a source of livelihood for them round the year.
The Sri Jagannath Temple has been closed for devotees since March 21 after the State Government imposed lockdown to stem the spread of Covid-19. Ever since, the cooking of Mahaprasad had to be scaled down by the Suar Mahasuar Nijog (cooks and chief cooks). For over 2,500 farmers of the district, this is a time of extreme distress as the 12th century shrine has remained the biggest buyer for their produce.
Vegetables grown in Brahmagiri, Parikuda, Maluda, Delanga, Kanas, Pipili, Sakhigopal, Balanga, Puri Sadar, Gop, Nimapara, Nagapur and Chandanpur are supplied to the temple for preparation of Mahaprasad that comprises of ‘Chappan Bhog”, a grand platter of 56 dishes offered to the Holy Trinity. Mostly, vegetables like raw banana, pumpkin, spiny gourd, ridge gourd, bottle gourd, sweet potato, ginger, pointed gourd, jackfruit, yam, cucumber and radish are used in preparation of the dishes by 700 members of the Suar Mahasuar Nijog.
With lockdown in place, “Kotha Bhoga” for the Trinity is being prepared as per the temple record of rights but the quantity of Baraati Bhoga has been reduced to only 50 to 60 plates per day, says Narayan Mahasuar, president of the Nijog. Besides, ‘Abhada’ is being prepared for only 100 to 150 people.
“We had discussions with Collector Balwant Singh about cooking of “Baraati Bhoga” and “Abhada” during lockdown and as per his direction, the numbers have been limited to prevent any kind of public gathering outside the temple for collecting the food items”, he says.
Before lockdown, at least 200 farmers from the above-mentioned areas of the district would send vegetables loaded in 20 to 25 pickup vans to vendors and wholesalers at Uttara Dwara and Gadanti Chhak markets in Puri. Earlier, the greens were sold at Laxmi Bazaar near Uttara Dwara which was demolished last year as it was within 75 metre radius of the temple, and shifted to Masani Chandi Sahi.
Nijog sources say, on an average, around 30 tonnes to 50 tonnes of vegetables were brought to the temple kitchen every morning by Tunias, assistants of Suaras, who procure the produce from vendors and wholesalers. From hundreds of quintals, the temple kitchen’s demand has now come down to a few kilograms, said Rupak Panda, a wholeseller at Uttara Dwara market. Panda procures directly from farmers and sells vegetables to the Tunias.
“There has always been a demand for locally grown vegetables in the temple as they are of better quality compared to the stock procured from West Bengal or Andhra Pradesh. Hence, a large number of farmers grow vegetables in every season to meet the temple requirement”, points out Bhramarbhar Singh, a farmer of Jahnikuda village within Parikuda island of Chilika lake. In a bamboo hut that overlooks his vegetable field at the village, Singh has stocked ridge gourds that have turned yellow. Singh had harvested his first batch of the vegetable – at least 10 bags carrying 20 kg of ridge gourds each - from his 1.3 acre of land in last week of April. Only 20 per cent of the yield could be sold with great difficulty and the rest are rotting as there is no cold storage facility nearby.
“Since demand for vegetables in the temple kitchen has drastically come down, we have stopped sending the stock to markets near the temple”, said the 47-year-old farmer who is staring at a huge loss after investing `70,000 this crop season. Dilip Baral, a progressive farmer of Resinga village under Delang block, had grown pumpkins, spine gourd and raw bananas on his three acre land with an investment of `1.5 lakh in February for supply to the temple. He has been supplying vegetables to Uttara Dwara market for over a decade now. However, he had to sell a majority of the produce within the block this month as there was no demand from the Puri market.
“I decided not to spend money on hiring a vehicle to send the vegetables to Puri because the temple demand was nil”, he said. Several other growers like Singh and Baral have now lost hopes about revival of their fortunes this crop season. Many have resorted to selling vegetables at low prices to make some money while there are others who are feeding the rotten vegetables to cattle. “Our hope to get good dividends from vegetable farming is uncertain till the Srimandir reopens”, says Manoranjan Singh, a farmer of Delang who grew yam and raw bananas for the temple kitchen on two acres of land.