Siddaganga Mutt's funeral: Kitchens work 24X7 in Tumakaru

BENGALURU: 29,000 kg rice, 1,400 kg sugar, 800 kg sambar powder. This was the scale of food being dished out in the 10 kitchens set up to feed at least 10 lakh devotees who poured into Tumakuru to pay homage to the Siddaganga Mutt seer.

Mutt authorities are expecting the numbers to triple by late Tuesday night, as more devotees are expected to reach the mutt. The cooking began at 3.30pm Monday. Over 3,500 people, including 1,500 volunteers, ensured that no follower left the mutt unfed.

On a given day, at least 20,000 people, including 8,000 children who live in the mutt hostels, have their meals here. The mutt spends around 3 lakh a day on food — 3,000kg of rice, 300kg of tur dal and 400-500 kg of ragi, said S Vishwanathaiah, administrative officer at Siddaganga Mutt. “We had in stock about 2,000 bags of rice (25kg each), 10,000 kg of tur dal, 10,000 kg of sugar and 10,000 kg of rava. All this is consumed. We are now purchasing more and some devotees are also donating groceries.”

“For the next 15 days, we will need to cook in large quantities as lakhs of people are expected to visit the seer’s gaddige (samadhi). Every devotee who visits the mutt must eat the prasadam,” he said. Appani, a cooking contractor and devotee, said that 175 cooks from Tumakuru city had volunteered to cook meals and prasadam for the lakhs of devotees arriving since Monday noon. “All the cooks in our cooking group are present here, and will continue to cook till it is required,” he said.