Annaprasadam service in trouble due to shortage of LPG at Banashankari temple in Bengaluru. Supply is disrupted due to global tension. If the cylinders run out, the system of free food for thousands of devotees may stop from Friday.
Bengaluru: The effect of global tension is also visible on the city’s famous Banashankari temple. Due to tension between Iran and Israel, the supply of LPG cylinders has decreased in many parts of the country. Now it is also affecting the religious places of the capital Bengaluru, due to which the Annaprasadam being distributed to the devotees in the temples is getting hampered. Annaprasadam is arranged for thousands of devotees every day at the famous Banashankari temple in Bengaluru. On normal days, about 3 to 4 thousand devotees take Prasad here. On Tuesday and Friday this number reaches 4 to 5 thousand. Prasad is prepared for the devotees in the temple all three times – morning, afternoon and evening.
1-2 commercial cylinders required every day
Prasad like Pongal, Puliyogare and Ricebath are made in the morning. In the afternoon, rice and sambar are served to the devotees. There is arrangement for Prasad in the evening also. To make such a large quantity of Prasad, the temple requires at least one to two commercial gas cylinders every day.
But, in recent times, due to decrease in the supply of LPG cylinders, it has become difficult for the temple management to run the kitchen. Officials say that only four commercial cylinders are left in the temple. Food can be cooked with these only today and tomorrow evening.
Temple Executive Officer Krishnappa said that if the supply of cylinders continues to remain stopped then the service of Annaprasadam to the devotees may have to be temporarily stopped from Friday. He told the media that Prasad will be distributed only as long as the existing cylinders run.
Not only hotels and PG, temples are also troubled
On the other hand, due to shortage of cylinders, Prasad is already being made in small quantities in the temple. Temple manager Devaraj said that now only half the prasad is being distributed to the devotees as compared to normal days. The shortage of LPG in the country is not only affecting hotels and PG, but also religious centres. Thousands of devotees are given free Annaprasadam every day in temples, hence the gas shortage is directly impacting their services.
Because of this, devotees and the poor coming to the temple may have to be deprived of free food. Devotees are demanding from the government that this problem should be resolved immediately and some alternative arrangement should be made for gas cylinder supply to the temples.
Overall, it is a big deal for the impact of the war in the Middle East to reach the temples of distant Bengaluru. If the gas supply does not normalize soon, Annaprasadam service in many other temples of the city may also be temporarily stopped.