All major temples in Telangana to offer millet prasadams

Hyderabad: After the Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi, the major temples in Telangana will now have prasadam prepared with millets.

According to the officials in the Endowments department, the decision to make prasadam was keeping in view the health of the devotees. To begin with, the department would start the prasadam in major Temples such as Yadadri Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple, Balkampet Yellamma Temple, Mahankali Temple at Secunderabad, Basara Saraswati temple in Adilabad. The officials said that presently, the Balkampet Yellamma Temple has been preparing prasadam with millets.

The Endowments Minister A Indrakaran Reddy had signed a file giving orders to the temples to start preparing the prasadam with millets.

A senior official said the temple managements have been focusing on the health of the devotees and as part of those measures the prasadam is made in a hygienic atmosphere. The temples have been reducing the sugar content and increasing the use of Jaggery and now the millets will be given priority. The ingredients to be used for preparation of Laddu include Arikalu, Korralu (Foxtail Millet Rice), AnduKorralu (Brown top Millet), Samalu (Little Millet), Udhalu (Barnyard Millet), Jaggery, Pure Ghee, cashew nuts and Kismiss. Millets are anti-acidic, gluten free and they detoxify the body. These are effective in reducing blood pressure, reducing gastrointestinal conditions like gastric ulcers etc.

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi has started a campaign to promote millets. It is on his initiative, the United Nations has declared the year 2023 as the Year of Millets. The Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi had started the millet prasadam. The Yogi Adityanath government has tied up with the Self Help groups for supply of the millets.

The official said that all the major temple managements would now call tenders as per the new menu from the suppliers. Major temples have bulk suppliers and the new order would bring changes to the supplies, the official added.