Bhubaneswar: Catering to around 50,000 devotees daily, the rasoighara of the Jagannath temple in Puri is believed to be one of the largest kitchens in the world. The kitchen has 240 ovens or "chullhis" with cooking done in earthen pots.

The exclusive domain of the supakara sevyatas (servitors), who number around 1,000, the kitchen, however, remains idle for around 13 days during the rath yatra when the temple's presiding deity, Lord Jagannath along with his siblings, Balabhadra and Subhadra, goes out for a sojourn at Sri Gundicha, the abode of his aunt.

However, devotees are deprived of mahaprasad (the cooked offerings made to the deities) only for about a week when it is not cooked for mass consumption either at the Jagannath temple or at Gundicha.

Jagannath cult scholars and supakar niyog members sought to dispel the perception in certain quarters that devotees have to go without Mahaprasad (this includes items made of rice, pulses and vegetables apart from dried sweetmeats referred to as Sukhila prasad) during the 14 to 15 day period of "anasar" when the deities fall sick after their ritual bath during the "snan purnima".

"During this period mahaprasad is cooked and sold in the Anand Bazar (the temple's food mart) as usual. In fact, all the rituals of the deities from Mangal Alati to Pahad are observed, the only difference being that the deities are represented by the patachitra (painting done on fabrics) pictures of Narayan, Basudev and Bhubaneswari placed on a platform near the Bhitarkatha area of the temple while the original Trinity remain in anasar ghara or the sick room," said Supakar Niyog member Madhusudan Pratihari.

The patachitra representations of the deities are called patti thakura. Seven other idols are also placed nearby and worshipped during this period.

While on the day of nabjauban darshan by the original deities, a day before rath yatra the mahaprasad is directly offered to them and then sold in the Anand Bazar, the activities of the temple kitchen decelerate significantly on the first day of the rath yatra when the deities, who take their place on their respective chariots, are offered only "khechudi bhog" (a thin rice and dal preparation) which is cooked in limited quantities. The world's largest kitchen stops working when the scene shifts to the Gundicha temple where cooking of mahaprasad by mahasuar sevayats starts only after the deities make their ceremonial entry into the shrine and are placed on their high pedestals.

" The cooking of mahaprasad is not done on the bahuda ( return journey of the chariots to the 12th century temple from Sri Gundicha) day and then till the deities re-enter their original abode following Niladri Bije and are placed on their bejewelled throne. In all the Jagannath temple kitchen lies idle for around 13 days while the devotees have to go without Mahaprasad for about a week," said Pratihari.

For the rest of the year the kitchen of Jagannath temple caters to devotees every day.

" The offerings made to the deities are called chhapan bhog (56 dishes), but in reality the kitchen prepares 110 items including ghee rice, jeera rice, sweet rice and a variety of dals and peethas (cakes). The demand for these items goes up on festive occasions," said former temple management committee member and Jagannath scholar Rabindranath Pratihari.

Around 600 supakara niyog members are directly engaged in cooking.

"Only they are allowed inside the kitchen. The helpers who wash rice and cut vegetables remain outside. Water for cooking is brought from two wells-Ganga and Jamuna-inside the temple premises," said Pratihari.