The kitchen of the Jagannath temple is a unique one because the Lord is supposed to be eating his food here. The same food which is offered to the god is partaken by devotees as the Mahaprasad.  The food for the Lord is believed to be cooked under the supervision of Goddess Mahalakshmi. If the food has any fault in it, a shadow of a dog appears near the temple kitchen, which is considered a sign of her displeasure. In that case the food is buried and new food is cooked. There are a total of 56 varieties of food produced, which are all vegetarian and prepared without onions, garlic, or chillies, as prescribed by Hindu religious texts. All items are cooked strictly in the special earthen pots made for this purpose. The water that is used for cooking is drawn only from the two special wells near the kitchen which are called Ganga and Yamuna. After being offered to Jagannath and the other deities, the food is sold at ... More

The kitchen of the Jagannath temple is a unique one because the Lord is supposed to be eating his food here. The same food which is offered to the god is partaken by devotees as the Mahaprasad.  The food for the Lord is believed to be cooked under the supervision of Goddess Mahalakshmi. If the food has any fault in it, a shadow of a dog appears near the temple kitchen, which is considered a sign of her displeasure. In that case the food is buried and new food is cooked. There are a total of 56 varieties of food produced, which are all vegetarian and prepared without onions, garlic, or chillies, as prescribed by Hindu religious texts. All items are cooked strictly in the special earthen pots made for this purpose. The water that is used for cooking is drawn only from the two special wells near the kitchen which are called Ganga and Yamuna. After being offered to Jagannath and the other deities, the food is sold at the Ananda Bazar, which is situated in the north east corner of the outer enclosure of the temple. Every day thousands of devotees purchase and sit down to eat together, without any consideration of caste, creed, religion and status. Many rely upon this Mahaprasad to entertain their guests during social functions such as the thread ceremony and weddings.