The Jagannath rath yatra is held at puri each year in the state of odisha. There are a lot more festivals of rath yatra than just the fancy food we consume now a days.
Chhapan bhog refers to the 56 varieties of food items everyday offered to the Lord Jagannath. The bhog is also called Naivedya everyday offered to the Lord Jagannath, Lord Balbhadra and Goddess Subhadra first. And later to Maa Bimala in the Shreemandira.
There is an interesting story behind why chhappan bhog literally items 56 items. So here goes.
According to “Skanda purana” Lord Jagannath absolves to the devotees by permitting them to have his Mahaprasad and by worshiping him.
Making 56 dishes is not an easy task. Even today, every single day 56 items are prepared in the kitchen of Jagannath temple. It’s called the world’s largest kitchen. Goddess Laxmi supervises the meal. There are two kinds of food in this assortment. The first is sankudi which includes different types of rice, kheer, vegetables, dal etc. The second kind is sukhila, which comprises of dry sweets.
Here is the complete item of the 56 dishes of chhapan bhog
- Gopala Vallabha Bhoga (8.30 AM)
- Sakala Dhupa (10.00 AM)
- Bhoga Mandapa Bhoga (11.00 AM)
- Madhyanha Dhupa (12.30 PM to 1.00 PM)
- Sandhya Dhupa (7.00 PM to 8.00 PM)
- Bada Srungara Bhoga (11.00 PM)
Here are the items of Chhappan bhog.
Rice dishes –
1. Sadha Arnna – Rice cooked in water.
2. Dahi Pakhala – Simple rice cooked in water with the mix of curd.
3. Kanika – Flavored rice cooked with ghee ,sugar .
4. Thali Khichudi – Mixture of yellow rice, lentil, ghee and sugar.
5. Ada Pakhala – Rice ,water with the mixture of grated ginger.
6. Ghea Anna – Rice, water cooked with Ghee.
7. Mitha Pakhala – Water rice cooked with sugar.
8. Odia Pakhala – Cooked with the mixture of Water,rice with ghee, lemon and salt famous in odisha.
9. Khecudi – Rice mixed with Lentil.
Sweets dishes –
10. Khaja – A sweet dish made of maida. These are layered fritters, soaked in sugar syrup.
11. Gaja – A sweet dish made of fried wheat and then soaked in sugar syrup.
12. Ladu – A delicious sweet dish made with flour, sugar and ghee.
13. Jeera Ladu – Made of cumin seeds, lemon juice, sugar and salt.
14. Magaja Ladu –A type of ladoo made with gram flour, ghee, milk and sugar.
15. Mathapuli – A sweet dish made of Ghee, beans ground into a thick paste and Ginger.
16. Khuruma – Made of sugar, wheat, ghee and Salt.
17. Jagannath Ballav –Black color dish made of wheat, sugar and ghee .
18. Kakara – Brown in color famous Odia cuisine made of ghee, sugar, grated coconut and wheat.
19. Luni Khuruma – A dish which is basically a salty biscuit made of ghee, wheat, and salt.
20. Marichi Ladu – An extremely flavorsome ladoo made with wheat and sugar.
Pitha, Manda
21. Suar Pitha – One type of dish made with wheat and ghee.
22. Chadai Lada – Made of wheat, ghee, and sugar.
23. Jhilli – A famous sweet cuisine made with ingredients of rice Flour, ghee and sugar.
24. Kanti – A sweet dish made of rice Flour and ghee.
25. Manda – One type of cake made of rice, coconut, jaggery, cheese and ghee which is white in color.
26. Amalu – A item made of wheat, sugar and ghee.
27. Puri – A deep fried dish made of flour and ghee. Basically a kind of bread.
28. Luchi – One type of deep fried pancake-like item made of maida and ghee.
29. Dahi Bara – Made of Biri dal and then deep fried. Then dipped in curd.
30. Bara – A fried item made with Biri dal and ghee.
31. Arisa – Made of rice flour, sugar and ghee.
32. Tripuri – A flat cake made of rice, flour, sugar and ghee.
33. Rosapaik – wheat and ghee.
Milk preparations
34. Khiri – A dessert made of milk,ghee,kajuand sugar with rice,
35. Papudi – An item prepared the cream of milk.
36. Khua –A dessert prepared out of Pure milk slowly boiled over many hours to a soft custard.
37. Rasabali – A famous sweet dish made of milk, sugar, and wheat.
38. Tadia –A traditional and famous sweet made of fresh cheese, sugar, and ghee.
39. Chhena Khai – Made of fresh cheese, milk, and sugar.
40. Bapudi Khaja – Cream of milk, sugar, and ghee.
41. Khua Manda – Milk, wheat, and ghee.
42. Sarapulli – A famous milk dish prepared and the most difficult dish also,mainly made of pure milk boiled for many hours.
Dal & Curries
43. Biri Dali – A dal made with biri/urad.
44. Chana dali – Simple dal made of chana.
45. Mitha dali – A thick sweet dal made from arhar dal (Pigeon pea/Legume) made with sugar.
46. Muga Dali – A dish prepared with lentil dal.
47. Dalama – It is a typical Odia dish which is a combination of many types of dal and vegetables such as: Brinjal, Pumpkin,Bean, sweet potato, Coconut, Bodhi (a dried root vegetable that looks like a mushroom), hing (asafoetida), pointed gourd etc. Tomatoes (Bilati Baigana )are not used in Puri Abhada as it’s a foreign vegetable.
48. Raita – A yogurt dish with radish and curd.
49. Besar- One type of curry mixed with plenty of coconut and mustard paste.
50. Saga – A dish made with leafy green plants like Spinach, Leutia, Koshala that is seasoned with garlic.
51. Baigini. –A fried item made with brinjal.
52. Goti Baigana – A dish made of small brinjal and coconut sauce.
53. Khata – sour item made with cooked mango, apple, grape mixed and cooked together.
54. Mahura – A type of mixed vegetable curry which the main ingredients like Pumpkin, Arbi,Sweet potato.
55. Pita – An item made with the fried flowers of Neem tree.
56. Potala Rasa- It’s a spicy gravy odia dish that uses very basic ingredients like Potala (Pointed gourd) and coconut milk.
These are all about chhapan bhog which are prepared everyday in Shreemandira.
Rasogolla
Evidence
According to ‘Dandi Ramayan’ which was composed by famous odia poet Balaram Das, he mentioned that rasagola is offered to Maa Laxmi by Jagannath in a ritual called Niladri Bije. From 1868 to this day many morden food documented culinary journals suggest kolkata in West best is the origin of Rasgulla.
From 1868 to this day many morden food documented culinary journals suggest kolkata in West best is the origin of Rasgulla.
History
According to historians of odisha, rasgulla originated in puri as khira mohana, which later evolved into pahala rasgulla. Traditionally it is offered as bhog to goddess Laxmi at Jagannath temple puri.
According to folklore, pahala had a large number of cows produce excess milk, villagers would throw it away when it became spoiled. When the Jagannath temple taught of rasgulla recipe art, thus it became the biggest market for chhena based sweets in the area.