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A ‘Chhappan Bhog’ like no other for Pran Pratishtha day
A personalised Chappan Bhog from Lucknow’s Gomti Nagar took centre stage at the Pran Pratishtha ceremony featuring a special ‘Tulsi bhog’.
For the consecration ceremony of Ram Lalla inches, devotees from across the world have been sending their tokens of love and appreciation through gifts and food, one of them being personalised Chappan Bhog thalis from across the country. Chappan Bhog, which is a Hindi translation of the number 56 followed by ‘bhog’ which is food is representative of a devoted offering that is made towards a deity, most commonly to Lord Krishna during Janmashtami.
For the purification ceremony held on 22nd January at Ayodhya’s newly opened temple, Madhurima Sweets, a sweetshop in Lucknow made a customised Chappan Bhog thali that took centre stage. According to owner Srajal Gupta, the shop has been sending prasad on the 1st of January every year to the Ram Mandir and when the date for the inaugural ceremony was revealed for the newly-built temple, chief priest of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Acharya Satyendra Das knew whom to request for paying the first ode through their prasad.
“A silver-coated thali weighing approximately 17 kilograms was sent to the ceremony with a unique selection of 56 different offerings including a never-before-seen ‘Tulsi bhog’ and gold-plated swarn kalash alongside some classic sweets like kesar barfi and elaichi pista,” says Gupta whose shop has been around since 1825. “Worshipping Lord Rama has been a tradition in our family and growing up, we have inculcated it as a heirloom tradition which is reflected in our shop’s devotion by sending prasad annually to the Ram Mandir. The Chappan Bhog and the majestic effort that our master confectioners have devoted is just an extension of the ritual,” he adds.
Additionally, Panchhi Petha, a famed Agra sweet shop has made first-of-its-kind Petha laddoos in 56 different varieties for the Petha laddoo for the grand consecration ceremony of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.
