Some little known facts about the Jagannath Temple Mahaprasad of Puri

During the annual rath yatra or chariot festival of Lord Jagannath in Puri, mahaprasad is offered to all devotees and it is cooked on the premises of the temple at Ananda Bazar (abode of peace). This is believed to be the largest open-air eatery in the world where thousands of devotees buy and eat together irrespective of their caste, creed or status.
This has been reported in zeenews.india.com dated 30 July 2015.

This mahaprasad is prepared by a team of 600-700 cooks in earthen pots on wood fires and nearly 50,000 pilgrims take it daily, thus generating a business of Rs 8-12 lakhs. The total amount of ingredients that go into preparing this mahaprasad are 40 to 50 quintals rice and 20 quintal dal (pulses) daily. Then there are other vegetables to cook.
The cost of a kudua (assimilation of clay containers) containing rice and different types of dal and vegetables starts from Rs. 50.
The mouth-watering ‘Mahaprasad’ (food first offered to the deity) of the Jagannath Temple has managed to retain its appeal among tens of millions of devotees for ages. On an average, it cooked for around 20,000 people on any given day but, on special occasions, it goes up to nearly 50,000 people.
It seems Rs.800,000-Rs.10,00,000 are generated every day from the sale of Mahaprasad.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

Some more interesting 'must reads'-

CBSE to check cheating in AIPMT exams – examinees can wear only T-shirt and jeans

Mamata’s TMC received hate mail before her tour of UK to woo investors

Vallauris beach closed to tourists because Saudi King Salman will holiday there in private

Good news keep pouring in – major uranium reserve found in Srisailam

Uttar Pradesh repents and repeals ban on screening of films in luxury buses


Britain’s MI6 joins Turkey to fight ISIS

Gang of 80 suspected Boko Haram men attack village in Cameroon and kill 23

Father of two, living in Liverpool, tries to buy deadly ricin powder – then, a pet to test it on


Some live years after retirement, others do not

No escape from the jaws of death

Stampede during Puri rath yatra – two killed, 14 injured

Two women in their 50s are reported to have been killed during a stampede in Puri on the occasion of the annual Rath Yatra. It was a massive turnout of nearly 10-lakh devotees this year in this annual chariot festival of Lord Jagannath along with his brother Balabhadra and sister Subhadra. The stampede left another 14 injured – most of them were women and children.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india dated 19 July 2015.

The stampede apparently occurred when the devotees were waiting to catch a glimpse of the new deities on their bedecked chariots at two places — Marichikot Chhak and Narendra Kona. The deaths took place at Marichikot Chhak around 5pm. Moreover, another over 20 were injured when Balabhadra's chariot reached Narendra Kona.
The festive mood was also marred by reports of some other deaths in different accidents. A man drowned in the sea, another was run over by a train and a man fell to his death from the roof of a building while watching the chariot pulling festival. Two others are reported to be missing in the sea – their bodies are yet to be recovered.
It seems around 500 pilgrims, mostly elders, fainted in the unbearable humidity and had to be treated at the temporary health camps. Shree Jagannath Temple Administration had announced insurance coverage of Rs 5 lakh for each unnatural death during the nine-day car festival in Puri. There were six pilgrims who had died in stampede in front of chariots in 2008.
Incidentally, due to the stampede, the schedule has been disturbed - only one chariot, that of of Balabhadra reached the destination Gudicha Temple on Saturday while the chariots of Subhadra and Jagannath could not. The temple authorities have indicated that the chariot pulling will resume on Sunday morning.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

A few more must reads -
Revolution in the skies - Airbus flies electric plane E-Fan across the English Channel

CBSE to check cheating in AIPMT exams – examinees can wear only T-shirt and jeans

Nine-year-old boy of Philippines studies in the light from a McDonald’s restaurant

Drone hovering over TISS campus in Mumbai sets off alarms

Typhoon Chan-hom strikes eastern coast of China with wind speeds of 173-Kmph


Boko Haram going the way of ISIS – releases first beheading video

US drone strike has killed top ISIS leaders in Pakistan and Afghanistan?

Parents of 14-year-old girl arrested for forcing her to live in the woods for eating Pop-Tart


Where are the stamp collectors and pen friends?

Religion on Indian television