In Braj temples, ‘bhog’ purity is a surety
Temples in Mathura and Vrindavan have their own kitchens and maintain high standards of hygiene
AGRA Priests of prominent temples in the twin cities of Mathura and Vrindavan welcome the suggestion for hygienic ‘bhog’ of the deities they worship but say that the required measures are already in place.
However, religious sanctity is as important for them as purity. Keeping in mind both, they say they use cow’s milk which maintains the purity of ‘bhog’.
Renowned temples in the two cities have their own kitchens and maintain their parameters of hygiene for preparing the ‘bhog’.
“It is not a bad idea to implement suggestions for maintaining hygienic standards but we are already cautious about hygiene in our kitchen. We maintain these standards not only in preparation of ‘bhog’ or ‘prasadam’ but follow them even in our restaurants open for all,” claims Ravi Lochan Dass, spokesperson for ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness).
‘We have our own preparations for ‘bhog’, based on timings. In the afternoon, cookies, biscuits and pastries are served to the Lord while it is ‘Rajbhog’ (food for a king) having all varieties, at dinner time. All our food is cooked in ‘ghee’ made from cow’s milk, as we have 300-400 cows in our ‘gaushala’. Devotees coming to our temple can get the ‘prasadam’ for Rs 51, 101 or any amount as per their wish ,” said Ravi Lochan Dass, stressing that hygiene was a permanent benchmark in the kitchen.
Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi, one of the most famous temples in Mathura, has a regular inflow of 15,000 to 20,000 devotees daily during normal days but the number rises to 25 lakh on ‘Janmashtmi’ at this coveted location, known as the birthplace of Lord Krishna.
“We do not accept ‘bhog’ brought from outside and the one offered to ‘Thakurji’ (Lord Krishna) is prepared in our kitchen. It is always made from ‘cow’s milk ghee which we get from ‘Gau Seva Sangh’ in Rajasthan,” said Gopeshwar Chaturvedi, member of the trust which manages the Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi.
“We have a regular staff in our kitchen and are open to the inspecting team from the food and drug safety administration. No compromise is made on hygiene. The rates are fixed for ‘prasadam’ distributed to devotees, at Rs 60 for 200 grams ‘besan laddoo’ made using cow’s milk ghee,” said Chaturvedi.
“There is arrangement for ‘kinka’ (minute) ‘prasadam’ distributed to devotees and purity is something of a surety,” said Munesh Sharma, manager, Bankey Behari Temple in Vrindavan. “We get the ‘bhog’ prepared at ‘Bhog Bhandar’ where it is mandatory for those preparing it to have a bath before undertaking the task.Our preparations are also made using cow’s milk ghee”, he said.
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› In the afternoon, cookies, biscuits and pastries are served to the Lord while it is ‘Rajbhog’ (food for a king) having all varieties, at dinner time. All our food is cooked in ‘ghee’ made from cow’s milk, as we have 300400 cows in our ‘gaushala’.
RAVI LOCHAN DASS,, spokesperson for ISKCON