Gas crunch leaves temple kitchens cold

Hyderabad: The ongoing LPG shortage has begun to affect temple kitchens in the city, with the iconic 200-year-old Sri Ganesh Temple in Secunderabad suspending its daily annadanam and prasadam distribution.

Temple chairman P Prabhakar confirmed to TOI that the services have been halted for the next couple of days due to the unavailability of gas cylinders. "We use around 10 cylinders every two to three days to prepare food for annadanam and prasadam. With the shortage, we had no option but to pause the services," he said.


Every day, hundreds depend on the temple for annadanam. "Nearly 100 take part in the annadanam programme, while about 50 more receive kichidi prasadam," Prabhakar said adding that the temple also sells pulihora, vada, and laddu as prasadam, which have now been temporarily discontinued.

"We are exploring alternatives such as firewood stoves so that we can resume cooking soon. But we first need to identify a feasible place within the temple premises to set them up," he said. The temple has also stopped distributing free prasadam at its counters for now.

At Sri Peddamma Thalli Temple in Jubilee Hills, authorities are preparing contingency plans to deal with the gas shortage. Executive officer G Srinivas Raju said the temple may have to shift to alternative cooking methods within the next three to four days.

"We require over 150 cylinders a month, supplied by two agencies. One of them has already stopped deliveries. We are now exploring options like steam cooking and firewood to ensure annadanam and prasadam continue without disruption," he said, adding that the temple currently has around 10 cylinders left.

Annadanam at the temple is held three times a week, serving nearly 1,500 to 1,800 devotees. While laddu, pulihora, and vada are offered as prasadam, the menu may soon see changes. "Vada will be the first thing to go if we need to tweak the menu of prasadam. In annadanam, we may have to rethink items like papad, sweets, and certain curries," Srinivas Raju said.

However, major temples across the state, including Bhadrachalam, Vemulawada, Yadagirigutta, and Kaleswaram said they currently have sufficient LPG stocks to continue annadanam and prasadam distribution without disruption.