Rich payasams, fruits garnished with a smattering of ghee, jaggery or sugar, plump unniyappams with a fine dusting of sugar, beaten rice mixed with jaggery... Food for the gods are also manna for foodies. Festivals like Vishu happen to be occasions for foodies to enjoy the ambrosial offerings that are served to the gods in the temples. Paal payasam made with rice is the flavour of the day. The creamier and richer the payasam, the better the taste.
For Vishu, usually all roads lead to temples dedicated to Krishna and the Malayalam New Year is an occasion when the temples go into overdrive with preparation of large quantities of prasadam. Each temple ceremoniously follows its distinctive long-held customs with special offerings to the presiding deity on the day of Vishu, which also happens to be a harvest festival.
At the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple, one of the offerings made by devotees is paal payasam. On the day of Vishu, along with the customary prasadam that accompanies poojas and rituals, litres of Ambalappuzha paal payasam is booked by the devotees as an offering to the reigning deity.
Thirumadhuram is made in many houses in the city that celebrate Vishu. Usually banana is cut into cubes and garnished with honey, ghee and sugar or jaggery. Now, many other fruits are also included, which, sometimes, make it a healthy version of fruit salad.
At the Sree Krishna Temple along the Jagathy-Edappazhanji road, apart from special rituals on that day, another highlight is ambrosial offerings. S Jayashankar, temple secretary, says the authorities scale up the propitiatory nivedyam traditionally offered to the deity.
- For the Udupi Tulu Brahmin community, any festival is incomplete without the preparation of kadubu and Vishu is no exception. Kadubu is idli batter steamed in screw pine leaves. The thorns on the leaves are neatly scaled before they are toasted on a low flame to remove the moisture content. Then they are made into cylindrical moulds. Two or three moulds can be made from a leaf.
- “The cooking process is the same as that of making idlis. However the vessel used is bigger than your common idli cooker. Also, the batter should not be as thick as the idli batter,” says K Venkitachalam Potty a.k.a. Ramesh. Moulding the leaves into cylindrical shapes is not an easy process.
- Also called Olitho Mudei, kadubu gets the taste and flavour from the toasted leaves. “The leaves give a special aroma to the kadubu. We have it for breakfast with coconut oil, pumpkin chutney (made from the innards of pumpkin) and kadumanga (tender mango) pickle,” says Ramesh. He adds that it is difficult to find pine leaves always and they use long glasses, like lassi glasses, to prepare the dumpling. “But the flavour will be different. In Udupi, we get ready-made moulds from vendors,” he adds.
- As for the special offering for the deity, mango payasam is an important dish. “We call it kukku rasayanam. The pulp of ripe mangoes — irrespective of the variety — is mixed well with coconut milk and jaggery. It is not cooked. Cardamom powder ups the taste,” Ramesh says.
“The day starts with an offering of rice-based malar nivedyam to Lord Krishna. This is followed by aval (flattened rice) and sharkkara (jaggery) payasam accompanied by rituals. At 9 am, unniyappam, paal payasam and aval are offered,” says Jayashankar. Other offerings include nivedyachoru (rice).
Jayashankar says the prasadam is prepared by the temple priests themselves at the temple kitchen. For Vishu, work commences on the evening the day before and often goes well into the night to set the arrangements ready before the temple opens for devotees early the next morning. “The temple brings out about 500 half-litre bottles of it on Vishu. Unniyappam and aval are also prepared in bulk for devotees,” he says.
Special paal payasam
At Perur Sree Krishna Swamy Temple at Ambalamukku, all devotees get a glass of payasam on the day of Vishu. One of the oldest Krishna temples in the city, devotees turn up in thousands for darshan and to see the Vishukkani. “We don’t keep a count on the number of devotees. They come in large numbers and we give the payasam to each of them,” says MK Devarajan, secretary of the temple advisory committee. Payasam distribution starts by 7.30 am. “While the payasam is prepared by temple staff on all days, on the day of Vishu, we bring in cooks from outside because it has to be prepared in large quantities. There will be at least four of them. Preparations start by 2 am,” he says. The temple is believed to have been built in 1729 during the reign of Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma.
Meanwhile, at the ancient Rishimangalam Sree Krishna Temple, Vanchiyoor, situated by the banks of a huge pond, 10-day-long festivities mark the festival of Vishu. Besides regular offerings such as unniyappam, kadumpayasam and paal payasam, the temple authorities also distribute a packet containing aval and two unniyappams to all devotees on the evening of Vishu.
Paal payasam | Photo Credit: Special arrangement
Aval is roasted and mixed with jaggery. Then it is ground. “Aval and unniyappam are prepared in the temple itself. Four or five employees take at least two hours to complete the packing,” says VS Krishnamoorthy, secretary, temple committee.