Kukke temple makes meal prasadam more delicious and nutritious

Mangaluru: Kukke Sri Subrahmanya Temple, a renowned shrine dedicated to the Serpent God in South India, has taken steps to enhance the nutritional value of meal prasadam for its devotees. To make the prasadam more appealing to the taste buds, the temple authorities introduced a variety of payasams to be served alongside the main meal on a rotational basis.
Moreover, the management of the temple in Dakshina Kannada district resolved to include a greater assortment of vegetables in the curries prepared for the prasadam meal.This decision aimed to provide a more balanced and nutritious meal to the devotees visiting the temple, which was known for its high volume of footfalls throughout the year. The changes in the prasadam menu are expected to be well-received by the devotees, who will now be able to enjoy a more diverse and flavourful meal at the temple. The temple added payasams made of chana, green gram, sago, wheat, milk, rice, vermicelli, rava and cereals to its menu.
Temple executive officer Aravinda Ayyappa Suthagundi told TOI that the decision was taken in consultation with Puttur Assistant Commissioner Jubin Mohapatra. "Earlier, the temple was serving only one or two types of sweet items along with the meal prasadam. Now, every day we change the type of payasam served to the devotees. Similarly, more vegetables, nearly 15 types, are also added to make curries delicious and nutritious. For this, we increased the quantity of vegetables being procured," he said.
During the festival season, the temple witnessed a footfall of 10,000 to 15,000 devotees per day, he said. "Since it was Dasara and school holidays, the temple served an average of 15,000 prasadam meals during mid-day and in the evening. The rush of devotees was likely to continue till the end of Dec," the officer added.