Whatever may be our belief, we are always fans of the word ‘Prasad’ and truly believe that it is God’s gift because who doesn’t love food? From Tamarind rice to Pulao rice temples around the world are competing with each other to take their Prasad game up a notch. However, this temple in Chennai has proved itself to be a true winner and we agree with the decision. According to reports from The Times of India, a temple named Jaya Durga Peetham is serving brownies, burgers, cracker sandwiches and cherry tomato salads to its devotees keeping away the traditional tamarind rice and sweet Pongal.

Not just that, the temple has an organized prasad system, wherein devotees put in tokens into a vending machine to collect their prasad boxes, made in the temple’s automated kitchen. The boxes are certified by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India and even have a manufactured, expiry and best-before date! The brainchild of a herbal oncologist, K Sri Sridhar, the move has attracted both tourists and locals alike. In an interview with TOI, Sridhar said, “When we set up the temple we thought we should give Gods the food we relish. The idea was to show that anything that is nutritious and prepared in a clean kitchen with a clean mind can be served to God. It doesn’t have to be only traditional dishes.”

The temple also has a computerized record of its devotees and sends surprise birthday cakes to them with an ‘agar deepam’! The temple is located in Padappai, a suburb in Chennai. We are definitely visiting this temple!