Food is not only an integral part of the Indian culture but also of Hindu religion.  Different deities are known to like different foods. Though it is believed that whatever is offered to God with a pure heart and dedication is accepted but offering the favorite food to God holds a special place in daily prayers.

Bhog: The Pious Holy Food

The food that we offer to the God is considered to be bhog. It is not a custom to offer the entire food to God so a portion may be taken out separately and offered. The portion offered to God is then mixed with the major helping. It is treated as a blessing from God and utmost respect is shown for it.

No matter which God you are worshiping and what you are offering as bhog keep in mind the following points while preparing the food:

1. All Hindu gods must be offered vegetarian food only. You should not include onion, garlic or mushroom in the food that you are preparing.
2. Food for deities must be prepared after you take a shower and purify your body.
3. The food that is offered to God must never be tasted before it is offered. It can be difficult as you will not know the taste. However, you must have faith in God that when you prepare food for Him it will be tasty. Infact this is a known fact and an experience which most of us have realized some time or the other. The simple foods prepared in Gurudwara prasada or Temple langar is far more tasty than dishes prepared at home.
4. The utensils that you use to prepare the food for God must be clean and you should ensure that these utensils are not used for any other purpose.

As you offer the food item prepared to God keep in mind the following points:

1.  Clean the idol of the Lord and place it on a neat cloth.
2. Light a diya and incense.
3. You must offer the food items to the Lord before eleven in the afternoon.
4. You must always offer water along with the food that you are offering.
5. It might not be possible to place the whole item prepared in front of the Lord. Just take a small portion and place it in front of the Lord. This can later be mixed with the whole food item that has been prepared. This will elevate the whole preparation to the status of prasad.
6. Do not forget to request the God to accept the food and water that has been offered.
7. After offering the food leave the room or ensure that you do not look at God for at least ten to fifteen minutes. You must give God time to come and taste the food offered.
8. No portion of prasad must be wasted. If you waste prasad you are insulting the Lord.
9. Offering prasad to others is considered to be a very noble task.
   

   56 food for Lord Jagannath

Let us move on to discuss some of the favorite foods of various Gods and Goddesses. 

• Lord Shiva – He is the most important god of Hindu Mythology. The food that Lord Shiva loves is milk. You can offer him milk or you can also make payasam (kheer) and offer to Lord Shiva to please him. Saffron is a very favourite spice for Lord Shiva so you can mix it in milk and offer it to the Lord in order to please him. Some people also offer bhang to Lord Shiva. Even curd is a common offering made to Lord Shiva.
• Lord Narayan – He is one of the most important gods in Hindu mythology. He incarnated himself as Lord Krishna and Lord Rama for the benefit of the world. He loves any food item that is yellow in colour. So you can offer him yellow lentils mixed with jaggery in order to please him. Even yellow laddu is commonly offered to Narayan or Vishnu. Lord Krishna and incarnation of Narayan was very fond of butter. He would steal butter as a kid. This is exactly why white butter mixed with a little sugar is often offered to Lord Krishna in order to please him. Lord Krishna also loves laddu made of coconut.
• Lord Ganesh – He is the son of Lord Shiva and goddess Parvati. He is the elephant headed God who loves his food. His favorite food are laddu and modak.
• Lord Hanuman – He is considered to be the Lord who removes all obstacles andprotects his devotees. His favourite food is red lentils. You can offer red lentils soaked in water with jaggery to the Lord in order to please him and get blessed.
• Shani Dev, Rahu and Ketu – These Lords love the colour black. This is exactly why you can offer black sesame seeds and black lentils to these Lords in order to get blessed from them. In addition mustard oil is used for making different foods to be offered to Shani Dev.
• Shani Dev – he is pleased with the offering of mustard oil.
• Goddess Lakshmi – She is the goddess of wealth. She is happy with any food item that is prepared with rice. You can offer her kheer.
• Goddess Saraswati – She is the goddess of knowledge and intellect. Khichdi is often offered to goddess Saraswati in order to please her.
• Goddess Durga – She is the wife of Lord Shiva and is the protector of the universe. She is worshiped all across the country for power and Shakti. The common food item that is prepared and offered to goddess Durga is Khichdi and kheer.
• Goddess Kali – She is considered to be another form of goddess Durga herself. She is also worshiped for Shakti and strength. She is offered vegetarian food. Rice is prepared along with kheer, vegetables and sweets. Rice is the primary item that is used in preparing food for goddess Kali.

The temple food at Puri is not only considered prasad but mahaprasad meaning supreme amongst the prasads. A total of 56 different types of foods are offered to Lord Naryana (Vishnu). The temple kitchen at Puri has a capacity to cook for more than a lakh people.

The mahaprasad is cooked only on earthen pots placed over fire generated using wood. The food is first offered to Lord Jagannath and then to Goddess Vimala after which it is considered to be mahaprasad.

All the above mentioned foods are delicious on their own. Their taste enhances manifold when offered as bhog to God. Probably it is devotion that enhances their taste!!

Editor’s Note:

It is our endeavor at Metaphysics Knowledge to present the traditional knowledge in a manner which is acceptable to the modern generation as well so that they take interest and it is not lost. Basically it might seem that offering such food items is a traditional and ancient custom and has no significance on the person. Yet a little refection would show that it is not actually so.

The food that we eat has impact on our body and mind and it is therefore advised to sadhaks to watch what they eat. Gulping down anything does not help much and one should know what are the advantages and drawbacks which is a subject matter of separate discussion. Basically the whole idea is to instill spiritually oriented food habits in the sadhaks and each deity likes food based on its nature and character. We will learn about this relationship in another discussion