Jagannath Rath Yatra 2023: Why Clay Pot Has To Be Used For Cooking Mahaprasad In The Temple Kitchen?

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Cooking in earthen pots is a custom that is ancient and is followed not only in Puri but in other regions as well.

In ancient kitchens pots were used for cooking and they used to be discarded the next day. Fresh pots used to be brought for cooking.

Every day a clay pot was used for cooking and fire wood was the only source of fuel. But why clay pots and why not steel or metallic pots? Let us know what beliefs and scientific logic are behind this.

Why Clay Pots Are Preferred For Cooking In The Temple Of Jagannath?

1. Food cooked in mud pots and pans is always very delicious and better than the ones cooked in steel vessels.
2. Earthen pots cost less compared to metal pots
3. Clay pots are biodegradable and eco friendly
4. Clay Pots in the kitchen is used only once and for the next day of cooking, fresh new pots are brought.
5. They are delicious and healthy and emit an earthy smell that gets absorbed and add to the flavour of the dishes.
6. Food cooked in clay pots retain their warmth for a longer time, say, 5-6 hours. This is because clay is a bad conductor of heat.
7. Clay pots are red in colour which is sacred by all standards. Clay pots can resist extremes of heat and cooking can be completed with in the prescribed time. Also, the red colour assists in cooking the food quickly and uniformly.
8. In case a large number of people arrive on a particular day, a greater number of fresh pots can be chosen so that it can accommodate increase in number of devotees. Every time, once a pot serves its purpose, a new pot is brought in its place to continue with cooking. The hearths are designed in such a way that it can make use of lesser quantity of wood for cooking.
9. All 240 hearths inside the temple kitchen are composed of traditional brick and mud.
10. The wood fire ovens are hexagonal in shape so that the nine pots can be placed one on the top of another and less wood is required to cook large quantity of food..

What Kind Of Food Is Cooked In Clay Pots?

1. Food is cooked strictly in woodfire
2. The Mahaprasad is prepared as per the authentic century old recipe book.
3. It uses only Indian vegetables. It prohibits the use of potato, tomato, cauliflower, cabbage, ladies finger, and drumstick, onion, garlic, coriander, green chilli, beans, bitter gourd, carrot, turnip, beetroot, corn, green peas, capsicum and mushroom in the temple kitchen.
4. Only condiments and spices that were used in the ancient times are used for cooking
5. The temple food is completely a Sattvic and vegetarian or vegan preparation prepared only by Brahmin priests.
6. Non-Brahmins are denied entry into the temple kitchens.
7. Mahaprasad receives divine blessings before being served.