Tamilnadu: Have you ever heard about a temple where ‘mutton biryani’ is served as ‘Prasad’? If not, visit Muniyandi Swami temple at Vadakkampatti under Madurai district in Tamilnadu between January 24 and 26 every year.
The 83 year old tradition is still going strong with full faith and fervor.
During these three days, if you visit this temple your attention will automatically shift towards the kitchen where ‘Mutton Biryani’ is prepared in large cauldrons. A distinct aroma will salivate your mouth and you’ll be tempted to have the prasad that is offered to the deities.
The Biryani is cooked in fifty large cauldrons on firewood hearths all through the night and at around 4 am ‘Biriyani prasad’ is offered to the deity. Thereafter the first batch is served after an hour, i.e. at about 5 am.
A quantity of over 2000 kilograms of biryani is cooked during the festival. For this 500 goats are sacrificed.
Devotees from across the globe make a mental note to be part of this annual ritual and to have ‘Biryani prasad’. Not only devotees, but anyone who walks into the temple can have this unique, mouth-watering non-veg prasad.
An age old belief is attached to this festival. If anyone pledges to offer ‘Biryan’ to the deity, their long cherished desires is said to be fulfilled soon.
A lot of devotees seem to have fulfilled their wishes and hence the quantity of the ‘Biryani’ cooked every year, keeps increasing and so does the number of devotees.
PNN