April 2019

Food without salt is certainly incomplete. Salt plays a crucial role in enhancing taste, texture and also balances the food. Even if there is less salt we find the food incomplete. But there is a temple in south India that gives Prasadam without salt. The temple of Uppaliappan in Kumbakonam prepares food without salt and this Prasadam is relished among devotees. When you taste the prasadam that this temple offers you will not miss eating salt. The prasadam is as delicious as one could imagine. The beauty of the food here is that if you are eating food outside the temple you will not enjoy the food without salt. But the food that is specially cooked in the temple is simply perfect even without salt.    

This 8th Century medieval Chola temple is surrounded with legends about its presiding deity – Uppliappan. An incarnation of Lord Vishnu as Venkateshwara who is believed to have eaten food without any salt. Uppiliappan is the elder brother of the presiding deity of Tirupathi Venkateshwara Temple. It is however surprising to see a form of Vishnu having food without salt, as Vishnu is known to love Chappan Bhoga and delicious food, while here he is eating food without salt. All the preparations of this temple have no salt due to a legend from Bhramanda Puran.

Bhoomi Devi expressed Her grievance to Lord Vishnu that She had not the privilege of being in the chest of Lord though she too had all the dignity features of Mahalakshmi. Thus she demanded that this is her right too. Lord replied that She would have that position as Tulasi, daughter of a Maharshi Markandeya. Once Sage Markandeya was practicing penance and wanting Mahalakshmi as his daughter. He heard a baby girl crying possessing all attributes of Mahalakshmi.

Rishi Markandeya took care of the child and raised the child to a marriageable age. When She attained the marriageable age, Lord Vishnu in the guise of an old man called on the sage seeking his daughter in marriage. Markandeya Rishi simply turned down His request saying that his daughter was too young for Him. he also said that his daughter did not know cooking and could not add the correct quantity of salt to the preparations. Adamant Lord said that he would accept the food even without salt.

Sage understood that the visitor was no other than Lord Vishnu and he was happy to give his beloved daughter to Him. As Perumal accepted food without salt (Uppu in Tamil), He is praised as Uppili Appan. Thus Bhoomi Devi as Tulasi came to stay on the chest of Lord in the form of Tulsi garlands offered by devotees in all Perumal temples.

The neiveitheyam (food offering) – mainly consists of Tayir Sadam or Curd rice. Where curd is mixed with rice and then tempered with mustard seeds, chana dal, and curry leaves. This preparation is made without any salt. The next most loved Parasadam is Sundal, This is similar to chickpea salad. The grated coconut, turmeric is added to boiled chickpeas. Then a tempering of urad dal, mustard seeds, chana dal, dry red chili, and curry leaves is added. All next loved prasadam is Vada, the traditional temple Vadas are made with urad dal, tempered with mustard seeds, chana dal, and urad dal, the mixture is made to the dough and then deep fried.

Vijayanagara Empire Founded in 1336 in the wake of the rebellions against Tughluq rule in the Deccan. The Hindu Vijayanagar Empire lasted for more than two centuries as the dominant power in south India. Its history and fortunes were shaped by the increasing militarization of peninsular politics after the Muslim invasions. The commercialization that made south India a major participant in the trade network linking Europe and East Asia.

This Dynasty is often synonymous with the greatest ruler of south India Krishnadevaraya. He reigned from 1509-1529 as the third ruler in uluva dynasty. Krishna Deva Raya earned the titles Kannada Rajya Rama Ramana (“Lord of the Kannada empire”), Andhra Bhoja and Mooru Rayara Ganda (“King of Three Kings”). He became the dominant ruler of the peninsula of India by defeating the Sultans of Bijapur, Golconda, the Bahmani Sultanate and the Gajapatis of Odisha. He was one of the most powerful of all the Hindu rulers of India.

The Vijayanagara society consisted of a largely priestly class, warrior class, trading class, agricultural and other related classes of people. The Vijayanagara rulers who ruled South India for nearly three centuries. they believed it is their duty to protect and promote traditional social order based on the Varnashrama system, as it can be seen in inscriptions. When it came to food Habits a rich variety of food items were taken by people of Vijayanagara. Even to this day some of the same food items are prepared. People were familiar with both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food items. The Brahmins, Vaisyas, Jains, and the Lingayats took only vegetarian food, while others including the royal family were accustomed to take meat, fish, and fowl. Vijayanagara city was the best-provided city in the world, with Provisions of rice, wheat, grains, corn, pulses, horsegram, and many other kinds of cereal, were stocked largely and sold very cheaply. However, the use of wheat was largely uncommon.

The Amuktamalyada says that the dishes changed from season to season. The list of preparations as seasonal meals are: crispy black lentil chips (vadiyamulu), dried vegetable stir-fry (varugulu), jaggery-flavored broths (tiyyani cārulu), sweet and savory porridges (timmanambulu, palucani ambaḷulu), sweet cakes (rasavalulu from atirasamulu ariselu), tender green mangoes (vaḍa piṇḍelu), green vegetables flavoured with mustard powder (avan cigurkonu paccallu) and pickled fruits (urungayalu). A seasoned mixture made with equal parts of cumin-spiced jaggery and tangy tamarind‟ (similar to sambar), also a sweet and sour rice preparation is mentioned (tamarind rice or pulihora).
In summer people ate raw mango and fried fish with rice. To avoid the smell, they drank tender coconut water which was buried under the sand. Farmers in the monsoon had the ‘harakadaanna’ and a curry made of green leafy vegetables with tender leaves of tamarind. The rich people carried the Ingredients such as rice, dal, spice powder, ghee, on their journey.

Kanakadasa in his Mohanatarangini has described the lunch in an annachhatra of Brahmins. The lunch consisted of rice, dal, gravy prepared of butter, milk, rasam, soup, pickles, and butter milk. The sweet items consisted of pheni, sukhhinunde, garige, sweet dishes, mixed fruits with milk. After the lunch betel leaf, areca nut with camphor was given. In the Vijayanagara empire, people used Cotton oil to cook food.

Food grains like ragi, rice and jowar were the staple food of the people. There appeared to have been public eating houses in the Capital City of Vijayanagara, where stone slabs with hollows in them for rice and curries were used for eating. Travelers may have been required to pay some amount for it. Such kind of stone slabs can be seen even to this day in some parts of the capital city. Besides public eating houses, there were many free feeding choultries where travelers were allowed to have food for a specified number of days. People were in the habit of chewing betel leaf after dinner.