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Chhappan bhog offered to Goddess Kali during Annakoot puja
The Annakoot puja was a special attraction at various Kali Bari temples across Lucknow. The Kali Bari temple in Ghasiyari Mandi witnessed grand celebrations where Goddess Kali was offered 56 varieties of delicacies
Thousands of devotees thronged the 159-year-old Kali Bari Temple at Ghasiyari Mandi on Wednesday evening for Annakoot puja where ‘chhappan bhog’ was offered to the Goddess as part of Goverdhan puja.
Usually, this ritual takes place a day after Diwali, but this year it was delayed by a day due to partial solar eclipse on Tuesday.
The Annakoot puja was a special attraction at various Kali Bari temples across the city. The Kali Bari temple in Ghasiyari Mandi witnessed grand celebrations where Goddess Kali was offered 56 varieties of eatables, including fried rice, sweets, fruits, dry fruits, namkeens and paneer pakoda.
“A lot of significance is attached to this ritual. It is said that those devotees who do darshan of Maa Annakoot will never sleep empty stomach,” said Dr Amit Goswami, priest of Kali Bari Temple Trust.
Over 4,500 devotees gathered at the temple for darshan, said Gautam Bhattacharya, president of Kali Bari temple management committee. “Prasad was distributed for three hours, beginning from 7pm,” he added.
Earlier, devotees danced to the beats of ‘dhaak’ — the traditional drum — at the temple during evening aarti.
The concept of offering 56 different types of food to the deity is associated with the incident of Lord Krishna bearing the Govardhan Parvat on his finger for a week. As food was served to Lord Krishna 8 times in a day and this ritual was held for 7 days, hence, 56 types of bhog or delicacies were offered to him, Goswami said.
