Lord Padmanabha appeared in front of Divakara Muni as a magnificent reclining deity and then shrank to a size manageable to the naked eye. Overjoyed, Divakara Muni could not find any other ready offering nearby and plucked a mango from a tree and offered it to the Lord. Thus, the deity at the temple is offered Vadu Manga of the region. These tiny slender mangoes are placed in brine and are part of every Naivedhyam offered.

Malik Kafur’s daughter Surathani (some say Sultan’s daughter as Malik Kafur was a eunuch) is believed to have fallen in love with the Utsava Moorthy when it was looted and carried away to Delhi. When the deity was returned to Srirangam, she could not bear the loss and came to Srirangam and gave up her life. Lord Ranganatha has instructed that she be recognised as his consort. In honour of her, Roti is offered to the deity first thing in the morning. She is called Tuluka Nachiyar.

A geographical indication (GI) is a name or sign used on certain products which corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin (e.g., a town, region, or country). The Tirupati Laddoo has obtained the GI tag in 2009 and thus only the Tirupati temple can produce and sell under the name Tirupati Laddu.

A kitchen for Laddoos called Boondi Potu is set up outside the temple at Tirumala. Besan is fried in this kitchen and is then transported in steel trays by conveyor belt to the Podi Potu inside the temple where the rest of the Laddoo making is completed. The finished Laddoos are also despatched to sales counters through conveyors.

The kitchens in Tirumala have a small shrine to Mahalakshmi. She is worshipped as Madapuli Nachiyar or Potu Amma (the lady who runs the kitchen). She is believed to be Vakulamalika who was sent by Varahaswamy to take care of Lord Venkateshwara’s requirements in Tirumala. She is also believed to be Yashoda who was born again as Vakulamalika to take care of Krishna.

Lord Shiva had killed the Asura Jhura and is known as Jurahareshwar in this temple. Pepper rasam is offered to Lord Jurahareshwar in this temple. Juram means fever in Tamil and pepper rasam is eaten as curative for those with fever or cold. The offering is believed to rid the devotees of fever or illness caused by heat.

Each Kancheepuram idli weight 1.5 kg. It is a cylindrical idli about 18 inches long and is cylindrical. It is flavoured with several spices and is cooked in mandara leaves in cylindrical bamboo containers for three hours. Two such idlis are offered to the deity each day.

In Kashi Vishwanath temple, the panchamrit abhishekam has a little Bhang mixed. This is distributed only in small quantities and only to male devotees

The Uchi Pillayar kovil in Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu has two temples, one at the foothills and the other at the top of the hill. On Vinayaka Chaturthi day, two special modaks, each weighing 75 kg are offered to Ganpati in the two temples and are then distributed to devotees as Prasdad. This practice is about two decades old. You can see the modak being carried to the hilltop temple.

Mukkuruni Vinayagar in Madurai Meenakshi temple in Tamil Nadu receives this offering on Vinayaka Chaturthi each year. Once Ganpati was looking for physical work and was asked to transport some material in a cart. At the end of the work when he was asked to specify his wages for the work, Ganpati asked for 30 kgs of rice (Mukkuruni in Tamil). To mark this legend, a single modak is made with 30 kgs of rice and 30 kgs of jaggery and other material, eventually weighing about 72 kg. The cooking takes 24 hours.