14 unique prasads offered in temples across India

India is the land of beautiful temples that are also the centres of art, culture, and charity. One thing common to all temples is the ‘Prasads’ they offer. Here, each temple has a special offering to the Lord and some of these are really unique. Sometimes there is an interesting story as to why a certain type of prasad is being offered in a particular temple. Here are a few interesting places you would want to explore in a lifetime. (Image: istock)

Dedicated to Lord Krishna this temple is known for Maakhan Mishri and Peda that are made with pure cow milk. Maakhan Mishri comes in mini kulhad (clay pot) that are handcrafted by local artisans. Many people are not aware that the first bhog of the day served to Lord Krishna is called ‘Bal Bhog’, which consists of kachori, sukhi aloo ki sabzi and besan laddoo. (Image: istock)

Here you get two types of prasad. First is the small packet of Mishri that comes with a small silver coin of deities embossed on it. Second prasad that is commonly available here is a mix of puffed rice, dry apple, dry coconut, and elaichi dana. They are beautifully packed in eco-friendly jute bags. (Image: Instagram/shahi_vegetarian_dawat)

As per reports, the holy prasad here comes in two forms – Angodak and Angobastra. They refer to the fluid part of the body, which is the holy water from the spring that is given to devotees as a prasad. (Image: istock)

Tirupati Laddoo also known as Sri Vari Laddu offered as Prasadam to Lord Venkateswara is the most popular of all prasad offered at the hill shrine. Made with ghee, sugar, oil, flour, cardamom and dry nuts, this prasad has been offered to the deity for the last 300 years. This laddu is registered as Geographical Indications under the category foodstuff under the GI Act 1999. The laddus are prepared by special priests called ‘Achakas’. (Image: Instagram/itsmytirupati)

This temple is devoted to Lord Shiva and the Prasad offered to the deity is a mix of chura (flattened rice), elaichi dana, and peda. The city of Deoghar is very popular for a wide variety of pedas flaovured with cardamom, kesar, and nuts as well. (Image: istock)

Popularly known as Mahaprasad, it consists of 56 food items offered to Lord Jagannath. Mahaprasad is of two types. One is called Sankudi Mahaprasad and the other is called Sukhila Mahaprasad. The former includes savoury dishes, while the latter includes sweetmeats only. (Image: Instagram/shree_jagannath_premi)

This temple is located in the Sitapur district of UP and interestingly there is no deity or priest in the temple. Moreover, the prasad offered here is liquor. According to historians, liquor is offered to the saint who lived here 150 years ago, and after offering liquor to the saint, devotees collect some portion of it as prasad. (Image: istock)

Made with flour, ghee, sugar, and water, the famous prasad of Golden Temple is called ‘Kadha Prasad’. Apart from this, they also offer langar, which includes roti, dal, rice, and sabzi, which is available for free to all devotees for fixed hours. (Image: istock)

Here, Maa Kali is offered dishes like noodles, chop suey, and fried rice as prasad. It is believed that the temple was made 60 years ago after a Chinese migrant saw a dream of Maa Kali and after which he started building this temple with other localities. (Image: istock)

This temple in Nathdwara, Rajasthan, is devoted to the deity Shrinath where prasad served is Mathadi, a type of deep-fried pastry, which is then dipped into a well of sugar syrup. 'Thor', a savoury variety, is also available for those who don't have a sweet tooth. (Image: Instagram/make_it_simple.21)

This temple is world-famous for its offerings to the deity that includes fish, toddy and even bottles of liquor. After the daily puja, all these items are served to the devotees as prasad. As per reports, green gram and coconut pieces are also distributed to the devotees here. (Image: istock)

According to experts, the prasad of this temple is considered the most useful prasad, because they offer CDs, DVDs, textbooks to the people as they believe in imparting education to the needy. (Image: istock)

It is one of the oldest Shiva temples in Varanasi and here devotees offer wine to the deity and it is on the most unique prasadam in India. (Image: istock)

Palani Panchamirtham, the famous prasadam of the temple is a combination of five natural substances — banana, jaggery, cow ghee, honey and cardamom to which dates and diamond sugar candies are added. It's the first prasadam in Tamil Nadu to get the Geographical Indication (GI) tag in 2019. (Image: Instagram/essenceoflife.sm)