In local Odia language ‘Chappan’ means ‘56’ and
‘Bhog’ means ‘Food or Offering’,
so Chappan Bhog refers to the 56 varieties of food items offered to the Deities (Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra)
every day in Shri Jagannath Temple, Puri.
Why does the Chappan Bhog contain 56 items?
According to Hindu scriptures, villagers of Vrindavan followed a custom of offering lavish food to Lord Indra,
the God of rain, to make sure he is pleased enough to bless them with timely rainfall and good harvest.
Lord Krishna found the custom to be a little tough for the poor farmers. Lord Krishna convinced the
villagers to stop this custom and take care of themselves. Lord Indra became angry by this gesture of
the villagers and started heavy rain and thunderstorm in Vrindavan. The rainfall continued for days and
the entire village was flooded. Fearing for their lives, the villagers prayed Lord Krishna to help them,
who then asked the villagers to proceed to the Govardhan hill.
Once the villagers were there, Lord Krishna lifted the Govardhan hill with his little finger and asked
everyone to came under the hill to take shelter from the rain and storm. The rain continued for 7 days
and Lord Krishna stood holding the mountain continuously for 7 days until Lord Indra realized his mistake
and stopped raining. Lord Krishna used to eat 8 food items daily. But during these 7 days,
he didn’t consume any food. At the end of the seventh day, everyone made 56 (8X7) dishes for Lord Krishna
to compensate for the 7 days. Thus, the concept of 56 or Chappan Bhog emerged.
Even today, every day, 56 food items are prepared in the kitchen of Shri Jagannath Temple and offered to
the Deities by six sets of offerings made in different meal hours.
What are the 56 items?
Below is the list of 56 food items known as Chappan Bhog.
| RICE PREPARATIONS
|
| Sl.No. |
Name |
Description |
| 1 |
Sadha Anna |
Simple Rice |
| 2 |
Ghea Anna |
Rice mixed with ghee |
| 3 |
Kanika |
Flavoured rice with ghee and sugar |
| 4 |
Khechedi |
Rice mixed with lentils |
| 5 |
Dahi Pakhala |
Water rice mixed with curd |
| 6 |
Mitha Pakhala |
Water rice mixed with sugar |
| 7 |
Ada Pakhala |
Water rice with grated ginger |
| 8 |
Odia Pakhala |
Water rice mixed with ghee, lemon and salt |
| 9 |
Thali Khechedi |
Yellow rice mixed with lentil, ghee and sugar |
| SWEETS
|
| Sl.No. |
Name |
Description |
| 10 |
Khaja |
A sweet dish made of maida. These are layered fritters, soaked in sugar syrup |
| 11 |
Gaja |
A sweet dish made of wheat which is fried and then soaked in sugar syrup |
| 12 |
Ladu |
A delicious round shaped sweet dish made of flour, sugar and ghee |
| 13 |
Magaja Ladu |
An extremely flavoursome ladoo made with gram flour, ghee, milk and sugar |
| 14 |
Jeera Ladu |
A ladoo prepared with cumin seeds, lemon juice, sugar and salt |
| 15 |
Jagannath Ballava |
Made of wheat, sugar and more ghee.Black in color |
| 16 |
Khuruma |
Made of wheat, ghee, sugar and salt |
| 17 |
Mathapuli |
Made of ghee, ginger and a kind of bean ground into a thick paste |
| 18 |
Kakara |
A famous Odia cuisine made of ghee, sugar, grated coconut and wheat |
| 19 |
Marichi Ladu |
Made of wheat and sugar |
| 20 |
Luni Khuruma |
Made of wheat, ghee and salt |
| CAKES, PANCAKES AND PATTIES
|
| Sl.No. |
Name |
Description |
| 21 |
Poda Pitha |
A baked cake made of rice flour, urad dal, coconut, jaggery and ghee |
| 22 |
Chittau |
A type of steam cake made with rice flour, coconut, sugar and ghee |
| 23 |
Jilli |
Made of rice flour, ghee and sugar |
| 24 |
Kanti |
Made of rice flour and ghee |
| 25 |
Manda |
Made of rice, coconut, jaggery, cheese and ghee |
| 26 |
Amalu |
Made of wheat, ghee and sugar |
| 27 |
Puri |
A deep fried item made of wheat flour and ghee. Looks like a small thin pancake |
| 28 |
Luchi |
A deep fried item made of maida and ghee |
| 29 |
Bara |
A fried item made with biri dal and ghee |
| 30 |
Dahi Bara |
A dish made of biri/urad dal and then deep fried. It is dipped in curd |
| 31 |
Arisa |
A flat cake made of rice flour, ghee and jaggery |
| 32 |
Tripuri |
Another flat cake made of rice flour, sugar and ghee |
| 33 |
Rosapaik |
A cake made of wheat and ghee |
| MILK PREPARATIONS
|
| Sl.No. |
Name |
Description |
| 34 |
Khiri |
A sweet dish made of milk, and sugar with rice |
| 35 |
Papudi |
prepared only from cream of milk |
| 36 |
Khua |
Prepared out of pure milk slowly boiled over many hours to a soft custard |
| 37 |
Rasabali |
A famous sweet dish made of milk, sugar and wheat |
| 38 |
Tadia |
A traditional and famous Odia sweet dish made of fresh cheese, sugar and ghee |
| 39 |
Chhena Khai |
A dish made with fresh cheese, milk and sugar |
| 40 |
Malpua |
Made of maida, milk, sugar and ghee |
| 41 |
Khira |
Made of milk, cheese, sugar and ghee |
| 42 |
Sarapulli |
This is the most famous and most difficult milk dish to prepare. Made of cream, milk and sugar |
| DAL, CURRIES AND OTHER DISHES
|
| Sl.No. |
Name |
Description |
| 43 |
Mitha Dali |
A thick dal made from arhar dal (Pigeon pea/Legume) made with sugar and is sweet in taste |
| 44 |
Biri Dali |
A simple dal made of biri/urad dal |
| 45 |
Chana Dali |
A simple dal made of chana dal |
| 46 |
Muga Dali |
A simple dal made of lentil dal |
| 47 |
Dalama |
It is a typical Odia dish which is a combination of many types of dal and vegetables such as: Baigana (Eggplant), Kakharu (Pumpkin), Bean, Kanda Mula (sweet potato), Coconut, Bodhi (a dried root vegetable that looks like a mushroom) with hing (asafoetida) |
| 48 |
Mahura |
A type of mixed vegetable curry that uses very basic ingredients like Kakharu (Pumpkin), Saru (Arbi/ Taro) Kanda Mula (Sweet potato) |
| 49 |
Besara |
A vegetable curry mixed with plenty of coconut and mustard paste |
| 50 |
Saga |
A dish made with leafy green plants like Spinach, Leutia and Koshala |
| 51 |
Potala Rasa |
It’s a famous spicy gravy based odia dish in which the main ingredients are Potala (Pointed gourd) and coconut milk |
| 52 |
Goti Baigana |
A dish made of small eggplants with a shredded coconut sauce |
| 53 |
Khata |
A sour item made with cooked mango, apple, grape mixed and cooked together |
| 54 |
Raita |
A yogurt dish with radish, cucumber,salt and curd |
| 55 |
Pita |
An item made with the fried flowers of Neem tree |
| 56 |
Baigini |
A fried item made of eggplant slices |
|
List of Daily Offerings to the Deities and Timings
There are six particular times a day, starting from early morning, the food or Bhoga is offered to the Deities
in Shri Jagannath Temple, Puri.
| Offering Name |
Offering Time |
Offering Location |
| Gopal Ballava Bhoga (Breakfast) |
8:30 AM |
At the Anasara Pindi also known as Ballava Pindi |
| Sakala Dhupa or Raj Bhoga (Morning meal) |
9:00AM to 10:00 AM |
Near the Ratna Vedi |
| Bhoga Mandapa Bhoga (Supplementary to breakfast) |
11:30 AM |
In the Bhog Mandapa, hall behind the Garuda pillar of Nata Mandapa |
| Madhyanna Dhupa (Midday meal) |
12.30 PM to 1.00 PM |
Near the Ratna Vedi |
| Sandhya Dhupa (Evening meal) |
6.30 PM to 8.00 PM |
Near the Ratna Vedi |
| Bada Singhara Bhoga (Late night meal) |
10:30 PM to 11:00 PM |
Near the Ratna Vedi |
|
Apart from the above six offerings, an additional offering is given to the Trinity before the sunrise
in the month of January, when the Sun stays in the zodiac Dhanu. This special offering is called ‘Pahili Bhoga’.
What is Pahili Bhoga?
Every winter with the start of Indian month of Pausha, ‘Pahili Bhoga’ is offered to Lord Jagannath and his
siblings in Shri Jagannath Temple, Puri. It is a month-long special food offering to the deities early in
the morning every day from Dhanu Sankranti to Makar Sankranti or Uttarayan Sankranti. In Odia language ‘Pahili’
means ‘Frist’ and ‘Bhoga’ means ‘Offering’, so the name Pahili Bhoga means the first food offering of the day.
In the month of January, Mahaprasad is sometimes referred to as Pahili Bhoga.
As per legends, the Pahili Bhoga is a delicious ‘Khechudi’ rice prepared by Mother Yashoda
(Mother of Lord Krishna). After Odia month Margasira, Goddess Lakshmi, wife of Lord Jagannath,
visits her Father’s house and stays there for one month. In Her absence at Shri Jagannath Temple,
Mother Yashoda prepares Pahili Bhoga for Her Son Lord Jagannath and offers Him early in the morning
till Goddess Lakshmi returns to Shri Jagannath Temple from her father’s house. This Pahili Bhoga
custom also highlights the fact that mother’s love for her child never reduces even after his marriage,
so Pahili Bhoga is associated to Mother Yashoda. This month long custom of Shri Jagannath Temple
reminds us about the love and affection we receive from our mothers.
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