Annadhanam at Adi Annamalai: a day in the ashram kitchen

Annadhanam in Tiruvannamalai is older than any of the ashrams that offer it, and at Siva Sri Thiyaneswar Amma Ashram it is the centre of the day. The ashram states that it serves a hot meal to sadhus, pilgrims and the poor on the Girivalam road every day of the year, continuing a tradition of feeding that Maataji has kept for more than twenty-five years. This is what that looks like from inside the kitchen.

Before dawn

The kitchen lights its fires early. Rice, sambar, a vegetable and buttermilk or rasam are the usual meal, cooked in large vessels by volunteers and the ashram's own helpers. Vegetables are cut the evening before. By the time the first sadhus walk past Adi Annamalai on their morning round of the hill, the food is ready.

Who eats

• Sadhus who live on and around the hill and depend on the town for their one meal.
• Pilgrims walking Girivalam, especially those who began before sunrise.
• Local people in need. Nobody is asked who they are or why they have come.

Food is served on leaves or plates, seated, with the simple courtesy that Maataji insists on: the sadhu is Shiva at your door, and he is served first. Maheswara Poojai, the formal honouring of sadhus with a meal and vastram, is held on special days through the year, and the ashram has offered saffron cloth to sadhus on the Girivalam road as part of this seva.

Pournami and Deepam

On Pournami nights the line stretches down the road, because lakhs of people are walking the path and Adi Annamalai is a natural halt on the western side. On Karthigai Deepam the kitchen runs through the day and night; the ashram reports that about one lakh people were fed on one Deepam. These are the days when extra hands matter most.

How to help

• Volunteer for a morning or a month: cutting vegetables, cooking, serving, washing, or keeping the path clean. The Annadhanam page has the sign-up.
• Sponsor a day of annadhanam in the name of a family member or an occasion. The office will tell you what one day costs and send a receipt.
• Bring rice, dal, oil or vegetables if you are coming in person. Tell the office first so nothing is wasted.

The ashram's registration as a charitable trust is 63/BK4/2017, and every contribution is receipted. To join or support the seva, see the Annadhanam page; to see the rest of what happens here each day, see the About the ashram page; and to meet the silent sadhu whom this kitchen also feeds, see the Mounasamy hub.