ANNA DAAN — FREE FOOD FOR 1 LAKH EVERYDAY IN SIMHASTH KUMBH MELA
As the emperor of the Kailaasa Paramparagatha Mahanirvani Peetham (oldest apex body of Hinduism), His Divine Holiness Bhagavan Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam provided free food to 100, 000 people every day during the 48-day Simhasth Kumbh Mela festival in Ujjain, Central India from April 15, 2016 — May 25, 2016. The Kumbh Mela is the oldest recorded festival known to human-kind, and the largest spiritual gathering in the world conducted every four years. During every Kumbh Mela celebrations, hundreds of spiritual organizations within Hinduism settle on the Kumbh Grounds for the duration of the festival which is normally 48-days. His Divine Holiness graces every Kumbh Mela along with a host of full-fledged socio-spiritual services among which is serving free food. This particular year, the Nithyananda Annalaya, (food temple) provided hot organic and satvic meals 24/7 a day for every single being that entered the campus, not only human but any creature!
As a part of the revival of “Kailaasa”, the enlightenment eco-system of ancient India, food is an integral component of a being’s spiritual journey to enlightenment. In a world where toxins infiltrate our food, detoxification is a major part of enlightenment in the work of His Divine Holiness. The food provided during the Simhasth Kumbh Mela was 100% organic, vegetarian and sattvic, meaning even the vibrations of the food were aligned towards purification of the body and mind. While there were many free food stalls and services going on across the 3,000 hectares dedicated for the Kumbh Mela, this was the only service providing organic, vegetarian and sattvic food free of cost. In this way, any person who enters and has a meal in Nithyananda Peetham is enriched and empowered for Conscious growth. Dinner was served till early morning of the next day which was followed by breakfast for the following day.
On the topic of “ending world hunger”, His Divine Holiness says, “Hunger is considered as one of the worst diseases in Ayurvedic Tradition (the ancient Hindu practice of holistic medicine). Giving pure, satvic food is curing the disease. The moment you give food, you say “YES” to life. Immediately, the life energy in your stomach will be awakened! Please understand, as an authority on the Science of how the Cosmic energy works and the authority on Dharma (Cosmic Principle), with all my integrity and authenticity, I am revealing this truth: whenever you share food, do “Anna Dhaana”, you say “YES” to somebody’s life, and the life energy in your stomach is awakened! So, any disease related to your stomach is healed!”
For His Divine Holiness, the practice of serving food was in generations of His biological family. He explains: “My mental setup of giving food to people, I got from My grandfather. He would go to the temple every day; search for sādhus (monks) near the temple; bring them home, make them sit down and recite some stotras (devotional songs) or verses from the Purāṇas, like ŚivaPurāṇa; offer them ārati (ceremonial waving of lamps); offer them dakṣiṇa (money), then feed them, and only after that, he would eat.”
During the Kumbh Mela in 2016, His Divine Holiness also invited 3,000 monks (sadhus, babas and sanyasis) for bandara, the traditional gathering of Sadhus (monks) over a meal. Each of the monks was served the meal on a banana leaf, as is tradition, and served 11 different courses of food. Honoring these monks with the highest degree of respect and dignity is reviving the endangered lineage of sanyasis and the ascetics from the Mahanirvani Peetham who protected Hinduism from being entirely lost during Mughal invasion.
The Kumbh Mela itself is a grand festival which His Divine Holiness has been gracing as the Acarya Mahmandaleshwar of the Kailaasa Paramparagatha Mahanirvani Peetham (oldest apex body of Hinduism) since 2007. Even prior to 2007, His Divine Holiness frequented the Kumbh Mela during His years of spiritual wandering of nine years prior to establishing the mission, spreading His teachings and grace.
PHOTOS:
1.) Serving of food to hundreds of thousands of people. 2.) Masses of people sitting and eating for their meal. 3.) A sanyasi (monk) initiated by His Divine Holiness volunteering and making food in large proportions. 4.) Volunteers of the 48 day program preparing food. 5.) 3,000 invited sadhus ( monks) seated in the sabha being served food 6.) The whole hall filled by lines of sadhus being served with the 11 course meal. 7.) An official letter of recognition given by the Premier of Ontario, California for the efforts in the Simhasth Kumbh Mela by His Divine Holiness.
