Religious food offered in Hinduism and Sikhism temples
Pras?da
(
Sanskrit pronunciation:
[p??saːd?]
,
Sanskrit
: ??????),
prasadam
or
prasad
is a religious offering in
Hinduism
. Most often
Prasada
is vegetarian food especially cooked for devotees after praise and thanksgiving to a god.
Mahaprasada
(also called
bhandar?
),
[1]
is the consecrated food offered to the deity in a
Hindu temple
which is then distributed and partaken by all the devotees regardless of any orientation.
[2]
[3]
[4]
Prasada
is closely linked to the term
naivedya
, also spelt
naivedhya
,
naibedya
or naived(h)yam. The food offered to the deity is called
naivedya
, while the sacred food sanctified and returned by the deity as a blessing is called
prasada
.
[
citation needed
]
Etymology
[
edit
]
Pras?da
is derived from the verb
pras?d
which consists of the verb ??? (
sad
- to sit, dwell) which is prefixed with ??? (
pra
- before, afore, in front) and used as finite verb ???????? (
pras?dati
- dwells, presides, pleases or favours etc.).
[5]
It denotes anything, typically food, that is first offered to a
deity
or saint and then distributed in His or Her name to their followers or others as a good sign.
[6]
'Pras?da' is sometimes translated as gift or
grace
.
[7]
Practices
[
edit
]
The
prasada
is to be consumed by attendees as a holy offering. The offerings may include cooked food,
fruits
and confectionery sweets. Vegetarian food is usually offered and later distributed to the devotees who are present in the
temple
. Sometimes this vegetarian offering will exclude prohibited items such as garlic, onion, mushroom, etc.
[2]
Non-vegetarian is prohibited in some of the temples. Hindu goddesses like
Chandi
,
Kali
and Hindu gods like
Bhairava
,
Mahakala
are given meat offerings of animals like
roosters
,
goats
,
fish
,
buffalo
which are slaughtered in the temple precincts.
Offering of food items forms part of the
upachara
or services to a Hindu deity in many Hindu traditions but is not universal. The
murti
(icon) is revered as a living entity who is offered food, fruits, and betelnut among others.
Temples usually have stricter worship routines that include offering naivedya multiple times a day. Most temples allow only trained pujaris to cook the
naivedya
. The
naivedya
offered directly to the deity is considered as
prasada
, the deity having "enjoyed" it. This can be considered to be a symbolic rather than a literal offering.
Offerings of food in home shrines are relatively simpler than the Hindu temples. A common practice is to mix the
prasada
back into the remaining food before partaking it.
Tasting during preparation or eating the
naivedya
food before offering it to the god is strictly forbidden. The food is first placed before a deity and specific prayers are offered with accompanying rituals. Afterwards, the food is considered as having been blessed by the god, and has officially become the sanctified
prasada
.
In its material sense,
prasada
is created by a process of giving and receiving between a human devotee and the god. For example, a devotee makes an offering of a material substance such as flowers, fruits, or
sweets
. The deity then 'enjoys' or tastes a bit of the offering.
[8]
This now-divinely invested substance is called
prasada
and is received by the devotee to be ingested, worn, etc. It may be the same material that was originally offered or material offered by others and then re-distributed to other devotees. In many temples, several kinds of
prasada
(e.g., nuts, sweets) are distributed to the devotees.
[
citation needed
]
Offering food and subsequently receiving
prasada
is central to the practice of
puja
.
[8]
Any food that is offered either physically to the image of the god or silently in prayer is considered
prasada
.
[9]
In Sikhism,
karah parshad
is served to the congregation after prayer and reading of scripture.
[10]
Parshad represents the same values as
langar
in that it is served indiscriminately.
[
citation needed
]
Kurukshetra Prasadam
(Channa laddu) in
48 kos parikrama of Kurukshetra
,
Tirupati Laddu
and
Mathura peda
in the
Braj Parikrama
are
geo-specialty
prasada.
[11]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Pashaura Singh, Louis E. Fenech, 2014,
The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies
- ^
a
b
Chitrita Banerji, 2010,
Eating India: Exploring the Food and Culture of the Land of Spices
.
- ^
Subhakanta Behera, 2002,
Construction of an identity discourse: Oriya literature and the Jagannath lovers (1866?1936)
, pp. 140?177.
- ^
Susan Pattinson, 2011,
The Final Journey: Complete Hospice Care for the Departing Vaishnavas
, pp. 220.
- ^
Apte, Vaman Shivaram (1992).
The Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary
. Kyoto, Japan: Rinsen Book Company.
ISBN
4653000387
.
- ^
Natu, Bal,
Glimpses of the God-Man, Meher Baba
, Sheriar Press, 1987
- ^
Mukundananda, Swami.
"Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 2, Verse 64"
. Retrieved
2021-04-11
.
- ^
a
b
Hawley, John (2006).
The Life of Hinduism
. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. p. 13.
ISBN
9780520249141
.
- ^
"Prasada | Hinduism"
.
Encyclopedia Britannica
. Retrieved
2021-05-12
.
- ^
Bhatia, Harbans Singh; Bakshi, Shiri Ram (1999).
Religious Traditions of the Sikhs
. Deep & Deep Publications.
ISBN
978-81-7629-132-3
.
- ^
Chana laddoo to be ‘Kurukshetra prasadam’, The Tribune, 1 March 2020.
External links
[
edit
]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Prasad
.
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