Feasting on Indian Mythology
- Ricesome
- Nov 17, 2023
- 5 min read
Updated: Dec 1, 2023
Man, myth, and legend. These are the things that often revolve around the stories that our grandparents and parents told us when we were kids. We can sit and debate till the end of times whether mythology was real or it is what it is and it is nothing but a myth; something which was only told to draw a line around a particular action, to prevent it without having to explain its intricacies.
Food habits are no exception and so are culinary traditions. Whether you believe in this folklore or not, you have to accept that these "myths" were told cleverly and comprehensibly, easy enough even for a child to understand. In my personal opinion, the hardest thing to probably write is a children's tale. Many of our favourite stories which we have heard since our childhood have a gist at the end. If people forget the gist, they will remember the story and vice-versa.
Food is one of the few things that has its place in these stories. Many of the customs and traditions that we follow are based on the so-called fables, fairy tales, folklore, etc. I grew up in India. So, I grew up listening to stories from Mahabharata and Ramayana primarily. One thing which I find fascinating is the same story which you hear in one household is different from the other one, and when we sit together to narrate these stories to one another, they create some interesting discussions.....and also some heated debates.
The list goes on and on and our attention spans are only so small. So let's look at a few prominent ones which I heard as I grew up and maybe you did too.
Let us start with the Goddess of Food, Annapurna Devi. One of the prominent Goddesses worshipped during Navaratri (a popular nine-day festival in India). The legend states that once Lord Shiva and his wife Parvati had a debate about the materialistic world. Shiva said that everything materialistic is an illusion even the food which humans ate. Parvati gets angry at this statement and decides to disappear to show the world how they could survive without her. Everyone on earth is food-deprived and starved, even the gods as well. Shiva's followers begged him for food, and they couldn't find it anywhere.
Finally, Shiva and his followers realized that there was only one kitchen in the world that was serving food- The holy place of Varanasi (Kashi). Shiva and his followers went there to see that the kitchen was run by Parvati in the form of Goddess Annapurna. Annapurna offers food to Shiva as alms as he extends his arms holding his vessel, and this visual depiction can be seen in photos in many houses across India. I grew up looking at this depiction hung in my grandmother's kitchen and remember asking her about it.
Once there was this demon called Bakasura who was terrorizing a village and eating all the residents there. The village headman agreed with Bakasura that he would send him a cartload of food and a person every day to feed him as a way to prevent him from killing everyone. One day a woman came crying to Kunthi (Mother of the Pandavas) that it was her son's turn to go tomorrow. Kunthi sends her son Bhima instead to kill that demon and save the village. Bhima takes the food on a bullock cart but gets hungry in the middle, eats all the food and sleeps in the middle of the road. (Proof of the first-ever Zomato delivery man)
The demon after waiting for a long time decides to attack the village and encounters a sleeping Bheema. He wakes him up and they both fight which leads to Bhima's victory, and his saving of the village. Even today Bakasura's name is used as a reference to someone who has a large appetite or someone who eats very voraciously.
(Fun Fact: In this story, my father told me that when Bhima was going to Bakasura, he went on a scooter. As I was reminding myself of this story, that was the first thing that popped up. I still don't know why he did that......probably to avoid copyright infringement)
Speaking of Bhima, in Indian Mythology, Bhima was considered to be a great cook. It was stated that Bhima knows the application of every ingredient used for cooking as he was born with this specific quality. A legend states that it was Bhima who invented the famous Indian dish "Avial", but there is no proof of it. During Vanavasam, Bhima worked as a cook for the king of Virata who was impressed by his mouth-watering dishes. He was famously called "NalaBheema".
Not to be confused with Nala who was the king of Nishada, and is said to be the author of the first-ever Indian cookbook "Pakadarpana" which apart from many recipes also states the qualities that a chef/cook is supposed to have such as a cook/chef must have a pleasant mind as the mental state of a person can affect the quality of the food. It also says things such as a chef/cook must come from a reputed family, must be a male and must only have a relationship with his wife. Although all these are not necessarily followed in the modern world (rightfully so), it is interesting to take note of his observations.
The famous Indian drink "Thandai", which is milk flavoured with various nuts and spices, is drunk on Mahashivaratri as a way to commemorate the event of Shiva drinking "Halahala", a poison that was produced as a result of churning the Ocean of milk in the Samundra Manthana event. He stored the poison in his throat which gave it a blue colour (hence, the name Neelakanth). It is stated that Shiva could neither sleep nor eat that night due to the poison burning in his throat and he did it to protect everyone on earth. As a way to repay him on Shivaratri, Indians fast for the entire day and don't even drink water during that time and this drink "Thandai" ("Thand" meaning cool) was offered to Shiva to calm down his rage of destruction.
As I stated, these are only "a few" of the stories that I grew up listening to and watching on TV. There are many more interesting and entertaining ones as well. Shoutout to @bojja_lakshmi_chandana, a friend of mine who is well-versed in food-related mythology, for sharing her knowledge with me about many of the stories mentioned here.
And, thanks to my father who etched these stories onto my mind by changing them only "just a little bit". The memories of listening to these tales are my earliest memories of storytelling and these are the ones I cherish now.
Hopefully, I can write more about these tales, so do let me know your opinion in the comments on whether you would want me to write about more food-related mythology
That's it for this time. See you next week!
Nice .. super..