Kollam (Ker), Aug 30 (PTI) For several decades, a temple in Kerala has set an example of equality among living beings — a message of the Onam festival — by serving a sumptuous traditional feast during the occasion to monkeys that live on its premises.
The sadya (feast) with all the traditional vegetarian delicacies such as ‘pappadam’, ‘payasam’ (dessert), pickle and rice, among other dishes, was served on plantain leaves to a troop of monkeys at the Sree Dharma Sastha Temple at Sasthamkota here on Tuesday — the auspicious day of Thiru Onam, the last and most important day of the 10-day harvest festival.
The simians waited patiently on the treetops till the last delicacy of the feast was served on the plantain leaves at the ‘vanara bhojana sala’ (a dedicated area for monkey feast). Then they descended one by one from the branches, looked around curiously and licked their fingers after dipping them in each dish.
According to a temple official, the practice of serving the ‘onasadya’ (the Onam feast) to the monkeys living on the premises of the shrine dates back to the era of the Ramayana.
It is believed by devotees that the ‘vanara sena’, the army of monkeys, had reached the shrine when they were on the way to Sri Lanka for the war between Ram and Ravana in the Ramayana.
The present temple management remembers the practice of serving them a feast as having been around for a few decades at least.
“This is nothing new. We have been doing it for decades. Every day these monkeys are fed at the temple. A delicious ‘sadya’ is served on Onam day,” he told PTI.
People consider the ritual as auspicious, and therefore many persons come forward to sponsor the sadya, he said.
“This time, we have got two-to-three such sponsors. So, there will be more feasts during this Onam,” he added.
A large number of people, even from far off places, come to the temple every Onam to get a glimpse of the “vanarasadya”, the feast for monkeys. PTI LGK ANE
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