Jagannath Temple, Puri – Rosaighara

Jagannath Temple, Puri – Rosaighara

Rosaighara is a traditional kitchen of Jagannatha temple, Puri, Odisha, India. The temple's kitchen is the largest in the world. The Rosaighara is located in the temple's south-east direction in the outer compound. After entering the temple through the main entrance on the east and ascend the flight of steps leading to the main temple, on the left side, Rosaighara can be found.

Legends:

Tradition holds that all Mahaprasad cooking in the temple kitchens is supervised by the Goddess Mahalakshmi, the empress of Srimandir herself, and that if the food prepared has any fault in it, a shadow dog appears near the temple kitchen, a sign of her displeasure. If the shadow dog is seen, the food is promptly buried, and a new batch cooked. 

Rosaighara:

Rosaighara is 150 feet long, 100 feet wide and about 20 feet high. There are 32 rooms with 250 earthen hearths within. Around 600 chefs known as suaras and 400 assistants together cook every day. There are three types of hearths in the kitchen; Anna Chuli the rice hearth, Ahia Chuli and Pitha Chuli the dessert hearth. The rice hearth is 4 feet long 2.5 feet wide and 2 feet high. The rectangular space created between two rice hearths is known as Ahia. Lentil and other curries like Besara, mahura are cooked in the Ahia Chuli. There are ten cement-based Pitha chuli in Rosaighara.

The food is cooked by suaras (also known as mahasuara or supakara), a sect that is given the charge since the beginning of the temple. The food cooked in Rosaighara is vegetarian and use of onion, garlic, potatoes and bottle gourd are not allowed. A particular kind of earthenware known as kudua are used for cooking. Water drawn from two wells near the kitchen called Ganga and Jamuna are used for cooking.

Over 500 varieties of food raja bhoga, Chatra bhoga and jajamani bhoga are cooked that are offered to Jagannatha, Balabhadra and Subhadra in the temple pedestal ratnabedi and food offering pedestal Bhoga Mandapa five times a day. Chapana bhoga, 56 varieties of cooked food are offered almost every day. Kotha Bhoga or Abadha that is offered as lunch around 1 in the afternoon is the most important food. The food, after being offered to Jagannath, is sold at Ananda Bajara as Abadha.

Every day food for over 5000-10000 is cooked where in special occasions food for over 10 million people is cooked in Rosaighara. There are two passages to the food out from the kitchen; the first one leads to bhoga mandapa for larger Kotha bhoga and Chatra bhoga, and the other one leading to the inner sanctuary of the temple for the Kotha bhoga offering. Except the suaras no one is allowed to go near the kitchen or even touch the food until they are offered at the traid of the temple.

Ananda Bajara:

Ananda Bajara is an open market for selling the temple prasadams, located to the North-east of the Singhadwara (major entrance) inside the temple complex.