Only Sanatani artisans are involved in the preparation of Kashi Vishwanath’s Prasadam | How is the quality of Prasadam in Kashi, Mathura, Ayodhya?: 20 quintals of Prasadam is offered to the Lord in all three temples, fat test is done every year… report is clean – Varanasi News

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How is this prasad made? Who is responsible for the quality? Is there lab testing or not? If yes, then is the use of animal fat checked or not? Read reports from 3 cities…

First of all let us take you to Kashi Vishwanath…

Here, the responsibility of Mahaprasad is on 2 institutions First of all, let us talk about the Dwadash Jyotirlinga Kashi Vishwanath Temple. Here the temple trust (management) has given the responsibility of preparing Mahaprasad i.e. Laddu-Peda to two organizations. The first and main organization in this is Mahalaxmi Traders. The second organization is Bela Papad Self Help Group.

Together they prepare about 1000 kg of Mahaprasad every day. Dainik Bhaskar team reached the house of Ashok Kumar Seth of Mahalaxmi Traders, about 1.5 km away from the temple. He has converted his house into a factory. Here about 16-20 men and women prepare Mahaprasad in one shift. We asked Ashok Kumar Seth some questions.

At Mahalaxmi Traders, 16-20 artisans prepare the prasad in one shift. During this time, everyone wears masks and keeps their heads covered.

Who prepares this Prasad? Proprietor Ashok Halwai said- Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust has given the responsibility of supplying laddus. Every day 2 to 2.5 quintals of laddus are supplied. On Mondays, festivals, Sawan and Shivratri, the demand reaches 3 to 4 quintals. Only Sanatani people are employed in the work of making laddus. The artisans here do not consume garlic, onion or intoxicants. The artisans make laddus wearing masks. Understand the level of cleanliness in such a way that the artisans preparing laddus cannot have lunch here. They have to go out of the building.

Is the sample of Mahaprasad ever tested? Ashok said – We get all the prasad made in our presence. We have also installed CCTV cameras. The food department keeps checking and sampling it from time to time. The report has always been positive. People associated with the temple administration also keep coming to see it.

These laddus are packed in a special kind of box on which Mahaprasad is written and then taken to the temple counter.

Where do you get ghee from? Ashok said- We use flour, gram flour, cashews, cardamom, almonds, ghee, sugar and dry fruits in the laddu. We add Parag company’s Govardhan ghee in it, its lab report has also come out fine. We have contacted Parag’s Mumbai head office for its supply, we take the supply directly.

Is there testing to determine the use of animal fat or fish oil? Yes, it definitely happens. Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust keeps checking the adulteration in Prasad from time to time. Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) decides the food safety on the letter of the Temple Trust. The Food Department also separately checks the adulteration in the oil or ghee used. The department had checked Ashok Seth’s Mahalaxmi Traders in April, in which all the standards were found to be met.

SDM said – no irregularities have been found so far Kashi Vishwanath Temple SDM Shambhu Sharan Singh said- The lab report of ghee has come in April 2024, in which no irregularities were found. But for satisfaction, once again the sampling of Mahaprasad has been done and sent. Its report is awaited.

Mamta, a worker engaged in making laddus, said- I come home after taking a bath in the morning. Then I make laddus while taking care of complete cleanliness. Vendor Ashok Seth also provides lunch and we have to go to another place (outside) for food and drinks. But we do all this happily, not out of compulsion. Baba’s Prasad is being made.

Now about the devotee…

Now let us take you to the temples of Mathura-Vrindavan… The outside prasad in the temples is just ‘Nazar Bhog’ To understand where the Prasad offered in the temples of Mathura-Vrindavan is prepared, we visited Banke Bihari, Shri Krishna Janmasthan, Radha Rani of Barsana and Dwarkadhish Temple. After talking to different priests, it was revealed that the Prasad brought by devotees from outside is only offered as ‘Nazar Bhog’. All the temples have their own kitchens, where the Prasad is prepared.

There is a kitchen in the temple premises at Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi. We were not allowed to go inside it.

Own Gaushala in Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi, ghee is used from there First we reached Shri Krishna Janmasthan, here we met secretary Kapil Sharma. How much prasad is prepared every day? He told- 2 thousand kilos of laddus are prepared every day. During festivals the demand increases up to 3 times. These laddus are made from cow ghee. This ghee is made from the milk of the cows of the temple’s cowshed.

The kitchen where the ghee is kept is built in the temple premises itself. This laddu is given to the devotees who come for darshan.

After this we reached the famous Ranganath temple of South India. CEO Anagha Srivastava said- Prasad brought from outside is not offered to God in the temple. Only the Prasad prepared in our temple kitchen is offered. This offering is made from cow ghee. Every day 1000 laddus are prepared in the premises itself. The ghee used is brought from the market, but it is used only after checking its purity.

The Mathura-Vrindavan temple has its own kitchen. Its own cowshed. The food is prepared in the temple premises itself.

Raw and cooked Prasad in Banke Bihari Temple In Banke Bihari temple, God is offered food four times a day. Bal Bhog, Raj Bhog, Utthaan Bhog and Shayan Bhog are offered. Raw Prasad is offered in Raj Bhog and cooked Prasad is offered in Shayan Bhog. The raw Prasad offered to God is made in the kitchen built in the temple’s circumambulation, while the cooked Prasad is made in the mansion of Seth Hargulal, who built the temple.

There is a separate route to prepare the Prasad in the kitchen of Banke Bihari temple and take it to the sanctum sanctorum of the Lord from there. The cook who prepares the Prasad for the Lord takes special care of purity. While preparing the Prasad, he wears wet clothes and after it is prepared, he takes the Prasad to the sanctum sanctorum through a separate route. After which the Prasad is offered to the Lord.

Goswami Mayank of the temple said – Cow ghee from the village is used in the Prasad offered to Lord Banke Bihari Ji. This ghee is taken from the people of the designated village and the Gaushala.

Dainik Bhaskar questioned Assistant Commissioner of Food Safety Department Dhirendra Pratap Singh about the quality of the temple’s offerings.

How is the purity of the offerings made in these temples checked? Assistant Commissioner of Food Safety Department, Dhirendra Pratap Singh said – Prasad prepared in the kitchens of temples is checked every 6 months. Under the Bhog Yojana of the Central Government, 10 temples of Braj have also been given Bhog certificates. This certificate is given for purity, ingredients used in making Prasad and cleanliness.

We send Food Safety on Wheels (lab) to the temple. Every sample of the prasad prepared in the kitchen is taken and sent to the lab. Its report comes after a few days. On suspicion of heavy metal, it is sent to the FSSAI lab in Lucknow and Agra. In which the use of fat in ghee is also checked. Till now no such adulterated sample has been found. Now let’s talk about the devotees

Now let us take you to Ayodhya…

Devotees do not offer prasad to Ramlala, Khurchan Peda is offered as Prasad In Ayodhya, we were told that prasad brought from outside is not offered to Ram Lalla seated in Ram Mandir. After darshan, every devotee is given a packet. Which contains fragrant cardamom seeds. We tried to know from the temple trust what offerings are made to Ram Lalla? We were told that every morning 5 kg of Khurchan Peda, curd and rabri are brought to the temple from Sitaram Yadav’s shop near the temple. The first offering of the day is made from these. This process has been going on for 100 years.

This shop is on the way to the temple. We reached the shop. Here we met Sitaram’s daughter Shyama. She says- The curd for making peda, curd and rabri comes from our own cowshed in the village. There is no question of compromising on purity, because it is sent for Ramlala.

Khurchan Peda is sent in similar packets every day for Shri Ramlala.

The second biggest centre for devotees is Hanuman Garhi. There are about 100 such shops around the temple, from where the gram flour laddus reach the temple for offering. Here, laddus for offering go to Hanuman Garhi from a special shop of Guddu Yadav.

Guddu says that samples of laddus from our shop were taken several times. But the report has always come positive. Mahant Sanjay Das visited some shops in Hanumangarhi and checked the quality of the prasad, which was found to be fine.

Ayodhya’s Assistant Food Commissioner Manik Chand Singh said – Khurchan Peda, curd, rabri made for Ramlala’s offerings are tested every 6 months. FSSAI’s investigation report has found no adulteration. Sampling of laddus was done at Hanumangarhi 3 months ago. Everything was found correct in their primary investigation. FSSAI’s report is still awaited.

Now read where the whole matter started from…

Chandrababu’s allegation- Animal fat mixed in Tirupati’s Laddus: Now pure ghee is being used, Jagan government destroyed the purity of the temple

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu accused the previous Jagan Mohan government of mixing animal fat in the Laddu Prasadam of Tirupati temple. Chandrababu said on Wednesday (September 18) – In the last 5 years, the leaders of the YSR Congress Party tarnished the sanctity of Tirumala. They compromised the quality of ‘Annadanam’ (free food). Even animal fat was used instead of ghee in the sacred Laddu of Tirumala. However, now we are using pure ghee in Prasadam. We are working hard to protect the sanctity of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD). After this, questions started arising about the Prasad offered in temples across the country. Read full news…

Fat was confirmed in this report…