No maida, sugar for the lord and devotees in Udupi

Sugar and maida served at Sri Krishna Mutt will be replaced by wheat powder, Gram flour (besan) and jaggery.

“Maida and sugar was being used in the ‘naivedya’ offered to the presiding deity Lord Krishna and also in the meals served for the devotees at the mutt. Following suggestions by Yoga expert Baba Ramdev and keeping health of devotees in mind, the mutt has decided to stop using maida and sugar,” Udupi Paryaya Palimaru Mutt Pontiff Vidyadheesha Theertha said.

Maida and sugar are the main ingredients that goes into the preparation of ‘Mohanaladu’. As an alternative to Mohanaladu, it was decided to prepare ‘Boondikalu Ladu’ using gram flour and jaggery, to be distributed among the devotees.

“By replacing the ingredients, one quintal of sugar and 50 kg of maida will be saved daily,” Palimaru seer’s personal secretary Girish Upadhyaya said.

“Cooks are trying to prepare ‘Jalebi’ using gram flour and jaggery instead of sugar and maida. Jaggery is used for the preparation of banana halwa, ash gourd halwa, holige, payasa and burfi,” he said.

Upadhyaya said jaggery was used in ‘Pancha Kajjaya’ that is served as naivedya for Lord Krishna. Shortly, jaggery will be used for the preparation of ‘Pancha Kajjaya’ that is distributed among devotees, he added.

No rice

Paryaya Palimaru seer has not consumed rice for the past 18 years. He had been travelling to Badarinatha every year. On each travel, he has been sacrificing one dish.

Accordingly, he stopped eating rice for the past 18 years. Prior to Paryaya, he had stopped using Maida, temple sources added.