Banaskantha: The Ambaji temple, in Danta taluka of Gujarat’s Banaskantha district, is one of many sacred shrines of goddess Shakti across the country, revered by practitioners of the Hindu religion. Every year lakhs of devotees visit the temple to offer prayers. According to data shared by the temple administration and seen by ThePrint, in December 2022 alone, about six lakh people visited the temple.
Since the beginning of this month, however, the temple, which is under the government’s administrative control, has been at the centre of a different kind of chaos, one that has over the days turned political, with the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Congress protesting against the same issue. The shockwaves have been felt even in the assembly of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ruled state.
At the heart of the turmoil is the sweet traditionally served as prasad at the temple — mohanthal — made of ghee, besan (gram flour) and sugar. On 4 March the Shri Arasuri Ambaji Mata Devasthan Trust, headed by Banaskantha district collector Anand Patel, announced that the temple would instead be giving peanut brittle (chikki) as prasad.
The biggest objection against the chikki, according to Dinesh Mehta who represents the 135 priests at the temple, is that it uses oil in its preparation instead of ghee.
The change, which has already been implemented, has been greeted with protests in the city with criticism being directed not just towards the temple or district administration but even the state government.
In the early hours of Saturday, slogans of “Mandir ke samman me, Bajrang Dal maidan me (Bajrang Dal is in the field to protect the honour of the temple)” and “Humse jo takrayega, sidha upar jayega (those who clash with us will die)”, could be heard outside the temple.
On Friday, the Gujarat state assembly suspended several Congress MLAs from the session for bringing mohanthal into the room as a symbol of their protest. Following the furore, Speaker Shankar Chaudhary ordered a forensic probe into the sweets distributed in the House by the MLAs.
Temple authorities have meanwhile said the switch from mohanthal to chikki was made to increase the shelf life of the prasad, which is often even sent abroad to devotees of the temple.
“There was a need for a dry prasad that could be transported and had a longer shelf life. During the pandemic, we received many requests from people residing far away, even abroad, for the prasad. To accommodate these requests, we have introduced chikki,” a member of the district administration told ThePrint.
The same was reiterated by cabinet minister Rushikesh Patel in a statement Sunday. “Those who cannot physically attend the temple but attend the online darshan, can also order prasad online… Mohanthal’s shelf life is only seven to eight days. The decision taken by the temple administration (is because) its (chikki’s) shelf life is up to three months,” said Patel.
He added: “Prasad is a matter of faith. It is not a delicacy… Because it is long-lasting, people in the country as well as abroad can order online and practice their faith.”
The decision, however, continues to be condemned by political parties, leaders and even the temple priests. Danta residents, too, have written to the district administration for the traditional mohanthal prasad to be made available.
While the VHP earlier this week issued a 48-hour ultimatum for the order on chikki to be withdrawn, the Gujarat Congress has accused the state government of hurting the sentiments of Hindu devotees. It has also alleged corruption in the awarding of contracts for making the chikki.
At the protest outside the temple Saturday, Ashok Rawal, secretary of the Gujarat unit of the VHP, told ThePrint that in its haste to make profits, the temple administration was hurting the sentiments of the devotees.
“Prasad is equivalent to god’s darshan. What is happening here is hurting the sentiments of Hindus. Hindu samaj was the one that helped this government win in the recent elections, they should not forget that. Hinduon ki astha ke saath khilwad nahi hona chahiye (they shouldn’t play with the emotions of Hindus),” Rawal added.
Rawal’s statement was echoed by Gujarat Congress spokesperson Hemang Raval, who also accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state of hurting the sentiments of the Hindus who had brought it to power.
“This is a great disrespect to the customs of the Hindu people and the BJP is behaving irresponsibly,” he told ThePrint Saturday.
Meanwhile, the switch from mohanthal to chikki has taken manufacturers of both prasad variants by surprise, ThePrint has found, with each voicing different concerns for the future.
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Allegations of corruption
In 2022, the temple administration introduced chikki as an alternative to mohanthal for devotees who wished to travel with the prasad, temple administration officials told ThePrint. The prasad is sold at a nominal price of Rs 25, which gets a devotee 4 chikkis.
For the past six months, the chikki prasad was being manufactured and provided by a private company, Nandini Gruh Udhyog, which was awarded the contract on a tender issued by the temple trust last year.
Congress’s Raval alleged, however, that in the coming months, the temple administration plans to bid the Chikki manufacturing contract to the Banas Dairy in the area, which is managed by BJP assembly speaker Shankar Chaudhary.
ThePrint reached Chaudhary by phone, but received no response till the time of publication of this story.
Dinesh Mehta, the priests’ representative, told ThePrint that the use of oil in the making of chikki is the main reason behind their objection.
“Every food item cooked in the temple uses ghee. Even the lamps and mashals use ghee. Bringing in an oil-based prasad will only show falling standards of the temple,” said Mehta.
He also suspects corruption by the temple administration and wants mohanthal to continue being given as prasad.
According to Mehta, the switch from mohanthal to chikki was made by the temple administration to make money from the chikki sale.
“The district administration has been taking arbitrary steps and hurting religious sentiments for a while now. Four years ago, they discontinued the system of bhog to the Ambaji idol during lunch hour. Then, too, we had expressed our dissent, but nothing came of it,” Mehta claimed.
A member of the temple administration, however, refuted all allegations, including of corruptions and claimed the “decision (to switch from mohanthal to chikki) is well-thought-out and will not be reversed”.
Several shop owners and residents ThePrint spoke to also voiced concerns of possible graft behind the prasad switch decision.
Move to affect employment
Meanwhile, Kanti Kharadi, the Congress MLA from the Banaskantha area, said the move will affect employment opportunities of many residents who depend on the temple for their livelihood.
“I very respectfully asked the assembly to address the issue of the change of prasad to be brought to the floor and be discussed. However, not only was my request denied, the prasad that we had brought to distribute was called poisonous and discarded,” Kharadi said, talking about the disturbance in the assembly over the issue.
While about 30 people are involved in making the mohanthal prasad available at the temple, most of the town is involved in allied businesses centred around the temple, ThePrint has learnt.
The temple administration’s decision to switch to chikki prasad has also come as a surprise to Rajnikanth Patel, owner of Nandini Gruh Udhyog, who claimed he had not been informed about the change.
Worried about the increase in demand during the summer months, Patel said, “So far, two orders of 60,000 packets (each) of chikki have been placed by the Ambaji Mandir trust. We were not given a heads-up by the temple regarding the decision to discontinue mohanthal. This means we will have to increase our production capacity.”
Patel added: “Finding labourers to mix the peanut concoction in summer is a difficult task. The heat (rising) from the concoction amid the soaring temperatures makes the job unattractive.”
Every full moon, the Ambaji temple, which has 14 havan pits, witnesses a massive footfall. When ThePrint visited the temple, some temple doors were shut to prevent devotees from bringing in homemade mohanthal for the aarti.
A visibly agitated priest present at the temple said, “The history of this temple dates back hundreds of years and the prasad provided here has always been made of ghee and not cheap quality oil. This goes against our sentiments and wishes.”
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
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