What is the role of religion in your life today? Do you pray? How do you pray? Do you commune with the divine through rituals? Is it through chanting verses during festivals? Or is it a comforting routine– going to mosque, church or temple once a week or month? Is religion part of your identity? Or is it something that you seek to distance yourself from? Do you think religion is a private act to be done in the confines of home, with family, not something to declare publicly? Are these questions making you uncomfortable?
To answer these and other questions, Shoba Narayan approaches faith through perhaps its most primal and nourishing aspect: food. She partakes of sacred food in shrines across India– Puri’s bhog, Amritsar’s langar, Palani’s panchamritam, Mathura’s pedas, Ambalapuzha’s paal-payasam, Kashi’s sweets, Jaipur’s rabdi, Ajmer’s kesaria bhat, Madurai’s dosai, Jewish halva in Mumbai, and communal feasts in Udupi, Goa and the Kumbh Mela.
Favourite Prasadam
Tough ChoiceAmbalapuzha Paal-payasam
But then I grew up with this
Table of Contents
Introduction
Udupi: The Boy Who Stole Butter
Kashi: Living and Dying in the Centre of
the Hindu Universe
Ajmer: The Islamic Saint Who Welcomes Hindus
Palani: The Oldest Jam in the World
Mumbai: Rosh Hashanah with the Bene Israelis
Madurai: Witness to the Apocalypse
Jaipur: Singing and Dancing, Hindu-Style
Table of Contents
Goa: Dancing Under the Stars on Christmas
Thiruvananthapuram: The Elephant God’s Fried Dumplings
Amritsar: Food, Community and a Holy Book
Puri: The Juggernaut That Moves a Chariot
Kumbh Mela: The Largest Human Gathering in the World
Kerala: Ambalapuzha’s Paal Payasam
Patan: In Search of the Sky-Dancer Goddess
Mathura: Dance of the Peacock
Conclusion
Index
Acknowledgements
