A meal in the name of lord Anant

PANAJI

: The close of Ganesh Chaturthi (10 days later) heralds another religious festival – Anant Chaturdashi. Celebrated in honour of Lord Vishnu, it is another occasion for friends and family to share a traditional meal.

Taking this tradition to even greater lengths, the landmark 350-year-old Mhamai

Kamat

house near the old secretariat, Panaji, throws open its doors to over a 1,000 visitors, of every faith.
More popularly known as the ‘Kongyachem Fest’ (for the presence of a unique right-sided conch decorated with precious ornaments in the house), people throng to ‘Casa de Camotims Mhamai’ not only to witness newborn children being offered in a ‘pudve’ as thanksgiving to God at the matoli, but to indulge in a traditional ‘Mahanaivedya’ Saraswat meal on that day, which falls on September 5 this year.

“Though the house is over three centuries-old, the Mhamai Kamats have been celebrating Anant Chaturdashi for just 150 years. The Mhamai Kamats consist of 10 families, which are spread out, but congregate here for this festival. During the Portuguese era, the Portuguese governor would always visit us on this day. Previously, invites would go out to people, but in the last 10 years we have stopped issuing printed invites. Instead we put a small advertisement in the paper,” says ex-director of archives and archeology S K Mhamai.

Meals, which are prepared from over 14 traditional vegetables, ranging from ‘khatkhatem’ to ‘moongagatti’ and the sweet ‘payasam’, are cooked by chefs brought all the way from Karnataka. “These are mostly Saraswat cooks known to us. Meals are cooked in separate, large, copper utensils, maintained by us especially for religious functions, on wood fire. On this day, additional ‘chulas’ are set up in the spacious family kitchen to prepare meals for the large crowd. One important aspect of preparation is that no onion or garlic (which we consider non-vegetarian) is added to the food. It is a pure Saraswat preparation. Also, as a matter of tradition, we do not take any outside donations of food or otherwise,” says Mhamai.

To prepare for the big day, women of the family, including a large group of maids, clean and dice the vegetables. Cooking commences at noon. Every preparation is then offered to the deity as ‘naivedya’.

In a deviation from regular practice, on Anant Chaturdashi, no lunch is served to the public at the Mhamai Kamat house. Rather, a large spread is prepared for the evening. For the first batch of people who arrive at around 5pm, servings are on traditional banana leaves on the floor. After this initial serving, a buffet is laid out. Stainless steel plates are specially rented for the occasion.
“The house is packed to capacity and queues stretch right outside as well. But no one is ever turned back without a meal. Our door is never locked,” says Mhamai. “The cooks are constantly replenishing the food. From the richest to the poorest, everybody partakes of a meal. Serving generally goes on till 12 midnight.

“The buffet is a recent development in the last four years due to the paucity of space and helping hands. The most interesting aspect of this occasion is that not only people of different faiths enjoy a meal with us, but they come from as far as Mumbai, Bengaluru and Pune. Throughout the night there are ‘bhajans’ and prayers offered till ‘utar’ puja the next day.”

Close to the heritage precincts in

Mala

, the ancestral Mahale house has been observing a similar tradition for over 80 years. “We have thousands of visitors,” says Raghuvir Mahale. “We start at 6am, when people bring offerings of milk, fruit and the like, and puja commences at 8am. Lunch is generally served in a buffet at around 1.30pm or so and goes on till 3-4pm. With the exception of the ‘bhats’, who are served on traditional banana leaves on the floor in front of the deity, the others eat at the buffet under a pandal outside the house. This is also an occasion to cook traditional vegetables like ‘aluchi bhaji’ which is a rarity these days.

“We, however, do not cook mushroom as it is sometimes considered non-vegetarian. We also do not use onion or garlic in our cooking,” says Mahale, who believes that such occasions are an opportunity for members of the various faiths that visit to witness the unique tradition of Anant Chaturdashi at both these houses.


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