**A Journey through Krishna Consciousness: A Gourmet's Perspective**

As we stood at the entrance of the Hare Krishna temple, I couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement and curiosity. We were about to embark on a culinary journey that would take us through the world of Indian cuisine, with a twist. Our guide explained that we were in for a treat, as the food served here was no ordinary meal. "What differentiates it from food that you would normally get anywhere else," he asked, "is that Krishna has tasted it, and it's become sweeter because Krishna has left his saliva there." This unique perspective on food was just the beginning of our adventure.

As we made our way through the temple grounds, I noticed a small plate of food on the table in front of us. Our guide explained that this was Maha Prasad, the actual offerings to Krishna, and it was meant for everyone to have a small sample. We were also offered basmati rice, cholay, pakoras, kofta balls, fruit smoothies, lassi, and even a muffin with a hint of Indian spices. I must admit, I was intrigued by the combination of flavors and textures.

One of the highlights of our culinary journey was trying the sabzi that I had worked on earlier. It was a cabbage and vegetable mixture cooked in a spicy tomato sauce, and it was absolutely delicious. Our guide explained that this dish was a staple in many Indian households, but he had never tasted it like this before. "It's like...East and West," he said, as we savored the flavors of the sabzi.

As we sat down to eat, I couldn't help but notice the variety of foods on our table. There were fruits, nuts, and even a few desserts that caught my eye. But what struck me most was the sense of community that surrounded us. Everyone was bringing their own dish to share, almost like a tiny village, where everyone's kind of in it together.

Our guide told us that the Hare Krishna temple was not just a place of worship but also a symbol of unity and inclusivity. "Whether you're from the middle of the country or you find that a blue baby god who's thousands of years old resonates with you, then you're welcome to join them," he said. This philosophy of acceptance and inclusion is at the heart of Krishna consciousness, and it's something that I found truly inspiring.

As we finished our meal and prepared to leave, I couldn't help but feel grateful for this experience. The food may have been incredible, but it was more than just a culinary journey. It was a journey into the soul of India, where tradition and spirituality blended together in perfect harmony. And as we walked out of the temple grounds, I knew that I would never forget this experience.

**The Significance of Govardhan Hill**

As we prepared to leave the temple grounds, our guide reminded us that one of the important rituals associated with Krishna consciousness is the circumambulation of Govardhan Hill. "It's recommended in the scripture that if you circumambulate the Govardhan Hill three times," he explained, "then all of the inauspicious snakes of material desires will not bite you." This ritual was a reminder of the importance of spiritual growth and self-realization.

We decided to take our shoes off and circumambulate the hill together. It was a beautiful experience, with the sun shining down on us and the sound of chanting filling the air. As we made our way around the hill, I couldn't help but feel a sense of peace and tranquility wash over me.

**The Food of Krishna Consciousness**

As we sat in the temple grounds, enjoying our meal, our guide asked if there were any rules about eating food that was served at the temple. We explained that we didn't know, and he smiled and said, "Oh, yeah, absolutely." He then told us that the food served here was Maha Prasad, which was taken from the actual offerings to Krishna.

The variety of foods on our table was incredible, with fruits, nuts, and even a few desserts that caught my eye. There were also some savory dishes, including basmati rice, cholay, pakoras, kofta balls, fruit smoothies, lassi, and even a muffin with a hint of Indian spices. Each dish was carefully prepared to highlight the unique flavors and textures of Indian cuisine.

As we enjoyed our meal, I couldn't help but wonder about the story behind the food. Our guide told us that when you offer something to Krishna, it's like opening a door to the soul. "The door to the soul is through the belly," he explained, in a sense that was both profound and humorous.

**A Glimpse into Hare Krishna Culture**

As we sat down to eat, I couldn't help but notice the unique culture of the Hare Krishnas. Their philosophy of acceptance and inclusivity is something that I found truly inspiring. "Whether you're from the middle of the country or you find that a blue baby god who's thousands of years old resonates with you, then you're welcome to join them," our guide said.

This philosophy is at the heart of Krishna consciousness, which is not just a religion but a way of life. It's a way of living in harmony with nature and with oneself, and it's something that I found truly beautiful.

As we finished our meal and prepared to leave, I felt grateful for this experience. The food may have been incredible, but it was more than just a culinary journey. It was a glimpse into the soul of India, where tradition and spirituality blended together in perfect harmony. And as we walked out of the temple grounds, I knew that I would never forget this experience.

**A Final Message from Our Guide**

As we prepared to leave the temple grounds, our guide looked at us with a smile and said, "Remember, Krishna consciousness is not just about food or rituals. It's about living in harmony with yourself and with others." He then reminded us that the journey of spiritual growth is a lifelong path, and it requires patience, dedication, and self-awareness.

I couldn't agree more with our guide's words. The experience we had at the temple grounds was just a glimpse into the world of Krishna consciousness, but it was an experience that I will never forget. And as I looked around at my fellow travelers, I knew that we would carry this experience with us for the rest of our lives.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enThere’s a mother witha very eligible bachelorwho’s staying in the back.Oh, oh, so she’s asking questions.I was looking for Krishna.You want the name Krishna? You want?You want Krishna?I’m thinking, like, a Peter.-OK.-A Peter or Michael.The last name is Krishna.The last name is Krishna.Definitely, yeah.I am here in Los Angeles duringthe Hindu Govardhan Puja festivalthat honors the god Krishna.During the festival there is music,prayers, and a mountain of food,literally.I am going to be attendingtwo different festivals today,one in the faith of Hinduismand the other, Hare Krishna.It should be interesting to seethe way that these two differentfaiths interpret the same festivalthat worships the same god.Should be good.I’m starting at theShiv Mandir Hindu Templein Montebello, California.I know that Hinduism is one ofthe oldest religions in the world.They believe inkarma or reincarnation.They don’t eat meat,and they worship multiple gods,including Shiva, Lakshmi,and, of course, Krishna,who we are going to worshipand honor and celebrate today,particularly by stuffing our faces.Hello, Kiran.I’m Prabha Arora.Welcome to the temple.And you guys, you havea special holiday today?We have the special holiday.Come on, I’ll explain it to you.Krishna symbolizes karma.So karma is his main thing.We must do our duty,we must respect elders,and we must serve our community.Is it Krishna's birthday today?Today we arecelebrating Govardhan Puja.Govardhan was a mountainthat Lord Krishna actuallypicked up on his little fingerto protect all the villagersfrom seven days of rain.And this symbolizesGovardhan, the mountain.-Ahh, the rice.-The rice.Oh, so it’s like a physical mountain.So he’s very great,he can save you all,so you just want to say,“Hey, we remember that, man.Keep up the good work.”After they weredone with this crisis,they used to offer himeight piece a day.Since they had missedthose seven days,they make eight times seven,56 things.Chappan Bhog.Chappan in Hindi means 56.There’s fruit, there is sweets,there is all different things.-And everyone brought one?-Everybody.Five or six, whatever they want.But we need at least 56,and it alwaysends up being, like, 70.Hinduism hasa little bit of elasticity.You know? It’s like 56 or 70.Or 70, exactly.Part of this Chappan Bhogwe make fresh in the kitchen.So do you want to seehow we cook in our...-Yes, I would love to.-temple kitchen?This is where we cook foodfor deities on festivals like today.There are three types ofvegetarian food.Sattvic, rajasic, tamasic.I cook sattvic types of foods.We only use pure ingredientsand do not use garlicand onion in sattvic food.Garlic and onion arevery strong smellingand considered tamasic types of food.Rajasic is the next level of purityand includes garlic and onions.And tamasic means?Tamasic means... that is notthe highest level of purityor emotion.We become what we eat.We do not eattamasic foods because...it involves killingother living things.That’s why we never eat or cook meatinside the boundary of our temple.But those who are purely religious,especially women,they don't eat meat ever.-Even when you’re outside?-Even when you’re outside.Having cross cultures,raising kids here,sometimes some peoplechange accordingly.-So beef is out?-Beef is out,even if people havetried to blend here.When Lord Krishna was growing up,his father owned, like, 10,000 cows.So cow was one of thebeloved animals of Krishna.So we never, ever eat beef,because it comes from cows.Why puri particularly?This is because rotis or purisare the traditional breads for God.And this is part of the feast,all the things we made,we can eat with puri.And coming from wholewheat flours,so you know what you’re eating.This is the flour thatwe use to make the puri.This is two cups of flour.And I have two tablespoons of oil,and then a pinch of salt.After I mix all of those together,I make a dough.After the dough is ready,I roll it in my palms.And I’m going to roll itand make a puri.Then I’m just going toput the puri in thereand then just push it a little bit.So that’s how it’s made.Do you want to do one more?You’ve got to do it with confidence.That’s the key, right?Yes.Not too firm.That looks good. Not bad.Not bad, not bad,you’re so encouraging.So, Seema, this was your puri first,and then that’s my puri.We have the purisbut you can’t eat it yet.Not yet.So our priest, Govind Ji,he will offer the bhog.What we call “bhog”is what you are offering.And after he has done that ritualthen it becomes prasad,and that is served tothe community and everybody.And that’s whatkind of comes back to you.-Comes back to us.-Got it.The whole congregation is gathering,you can see even more food has come,everybody brings something.-Your puris are ready.-I know.And this is the aloo sabziwhich Chubaty was making.We can offer it to God.Cover your head.We always cover our heads.-You have to cover?-Cover the heads.We close our eyes.Oh, close our eyes.And it is believed that Lord Krishnaeats through his eyes.When we close our eyes,we can’t see him,and he tastes everything thatwe are saying the mantras for.Oh, that’s whyI had to close my eyes.So he didn’t get toeat a lot of the puris.Because I only closedmy eyes towards the end.-He only taste it.-OK. So it’s quick enough?He wants our love, it’s quick enough.Now it’s time to offer puja,so we’re going to worship Krishnathrough traditional prayers,songs, and dance.They also light wickssoaked in ghee called arti,and offer them to Krishna todemonstrate humility and gratitude.May God bless you as bigas you can have your scarf.So this is fresh out from Panditji.He wants to also bless you becauseyou came here for the first time.So he has a red scarf,which we offer to goddessDurga for Jagran.So he wants to blessyou with that scarf.So that’s a blessing.If you can bow to Panditji,he will bless you.-Do you bow to the feet?-Yeah.The only difference when youdo go to the wedding,and she's going to come like this.Uh-oh.Now you can taste what you cooked,and we would like youto taste that food.The puris!The puris.So now it’s time to eat.Has everything been blessed?The food has been blessed.So you start with rice.More tthan 56 today.-Fifty-six?-More than 56.This is what I love about Indians,there’s so much food.This is an egg plant?-Move it like this.-Yeah.It’s going to get heavy.That’s true, it will get heavy.-What’s this one?-This is pakora.Oh, this is a pakora?That’s big pakora, we havethe small pakora on the other side.Great.And the puri. And the puri.-A potato curry.-Have that with puri, OK?Small pakora, that one’s big pakora.I know, I wasgoing to say these are--You want me to make some more,another one or something?No, this is perfect.This is... I’m double fisting now.I got to go find a seatto start eating this stuff.So puris, you like?Oh, yeah, the puris are great.How can you go wrong with a puri?How can yougo wrong with puri? Exactly.It goes with any kind of vegetable.And these are pakoras.This is mixed vegetableswith chickpea powder,and fried.This is special for today, malpura.-This is special?-Yeah.It’s slightly sweet, try it.And made from wholewheat batter.With some either jaggeryor brown sugar in it.-Very subtle flavor.-Mmmmmm.Yeah, it’s sweeter than...the normal pakora.Delicious.So many sweets.So many sweets, yeah.What is the purpose of the sweetsas opposed to the savories?Sweets is like offering our sweetnessto you, symbolizes sweets.That’s why Diwali’s lots of sweets.Everybody chips in to cook.-Everybody wants to offer.-Yeah.It’s everybody’s love.We can’t be selfish, saying,“Only one person make this.”Like a potluck.Like a potluck with God.Thanks for showing me everything,this was really cool.My pleasure. I hope you enjoyed it.-Yeah, the food was terrific.-Good!I love how warm and welcomingeveryone was at that temple.And I still can’t believe thatthey cooked so much food.Seventy dishes is insane.But I hear on the other side of town,the Hare Krishnas havean entire mountain of foodto share with Krishna.The Hare Krishna movement startedin the 60s in the United States,even though it originatedcenturies ago in India.Now, Hare Krishna is an offshoot ofHinduism, so they don’t eat meat,they believe in reincarnationand karma.One big difference, unlike Hinduism,which worships many gods,Hare Krishnas only believein the one God, Krishna.And I’m interested to seehow they do this festival.And how it is that a Hindu Godcame to be worshipped byso many white people.Welcome to ourGovardhan Puja festival,and it celebrates the New Year.And they offer somespecial gift to the deities.-Perfect. Let’s do it.-OK. Alright.Here we have the main sanctuary.We’re going to come in andtake a look at the beautiful altarthat has the deities of Krishna.And the person who’sin charge of all of thisis our head pujari .His name is Rabindranatha.Today, we’re observingthe celebration ofKrishna lifting Govardhan, the hill.He appeared 5,000 years ago in Indiato speak Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna,the famous Bhagavad Gita.And when he was in Vrindavanhe protected the residents ofVrindavan from the wrath of Indra,the King of Heaven, when he sentdown torrents of rain on Vrindavan.And as Krishna is God,the all powerful,he lifted up the hill withthe little finger of his left hand,and protected allthe residents of Vrindavan.And they went under the hillfor seven days and seven nights.And so every year, the devoteesof the Lord, the Vaishnav,they worship Krishna in this wayby making large offerings of foodto him in the shape ofa Govardhan hill.And they circumambulate the hill,because Krishna says, “This hillis non-different from myself.”And Krishna says, “You don’t haveto worship all these demigods.”People sometimes, they canhave so many gods, you know?No, you just worship the Supreme,the one Supreme Lord.And if you just do that,then you’ll be taken care of.And so they did thatand they were protected.So does that mean that ifyou’re a Hare Krishnayou don’t worship Lakshmi or Ganesh?No, we worship them in the sense thatwe offer respect to them,but we understand their position.Lakshmi is his servant, Ganesh is hisservant, Lord Shiva is his servant.And so if we understandthem in that way,then there's nothing wrong with that.Krishna was proving to the residentsof Vrindhavan that that’s not a fact.And this is the hill?This is a hill, Govardhan Hill.And we have different things,like I think those are poppers,and different fruits and differentsavories.And is it all vegetarian?It's all vegetarian, yeah.In other words, we don’t eat...no meat, fish or eggs.What we do is we’re Krishnatarians,we eat only what Krishna eats.So, since Krishna eatsonly vegetarian things,we only eat vegetarian things.No, like, chicken burger,chicken fillet every once in a while?No, no, no.-No, no killing animals like that.-OK.So, this is our main kitchen.This is where everything happens.Generally when we have festivals,like for Krishna’s birthday,we have upwards of 5,000 people.And then we have our bigger festivaldown at the beach,it’s 20,000 people.So the equipment reallygets some heavy use.And we're going to walk thisway and meet our head chef.And this is our head chef,Ratna Bhusana.This is Kiran, and she’s herefor visiting our Diwali festival.What brought you to the temple?I was living in North Dakota,and my brother and Igot some Krishna books.We started reading Bhagavad Gita,and it answered a lot ofquestions for me that—even in the Catholic tradition,there’s many—you’d ask,“Why are people suffering?”Well, no one knows.“What does God look like?”No one knows, it’s a mystery.I read Bhagavad Gita and it explainedabout reincarnation and karmaand how even in this life,you’re getting maybesome reaction from a past life.The things you've done inthe past will come now.And it just all made so much sense.But the main thing was thatthe very personal aspect of God,that Krishna is this person,it’s very personal and more loving,and a lot more thingswere answered for me.Making a sour cream sauce.We’re going to makea chaunce with spices.The chaunce is you heat the oiland you put the spices in.It kind of toasts themand brings the flavor out.And what’s the name of the dish?This is called a sabzi,-or just mixed vegetables.-Oh, you’re making a sabzi?I got some kale and broccolithat was stir fried.And we got broccoliand cauliflower we steamed.We have fried potatoes and paneer,which is homemade cheese.And that’s all going togo in the sabziafter I make the chauncewith the spices.-So this is the ghee?-This is ghee.-Which is a clarified butter.-Clarified butter.And these mustard seedsactually will pop just like popcorn.They look like little popcorns.So I’m going to do three of those.And then we’re going to do fenugreek,it’s actually a bean.Smells a little bit like maple.Sometimes they make artificialmaple flavor out of fenugreek.So we’ll put those in.We want them to roast,but not to burn.Then we have the curry leaves.So these aregoing to really splatter.It’s a party now.And we got some fresh ginger here.We’re also going to put in there.So the ginger you’ll do,but the onion and the garlicyou won’t?Just for the Vaishnav, it’sconsidered a lower-class vegetable.It’s not a strong prohibition,but we don’t offer it to Krishna.Right, because it’s not pure enough?Yeah, it’s considered kind ofnot in the mode of goodness.So now I have todump this in that big pot.And that’ll go in there.And...throw that in.This is no joke!Now we’re going to put inthe paneer and the potatoes.It’s just going toget heavier and heavier.These will go in there.I’m hoisting from my knees now.-Did we get it? Is it good?-Yeah.So to go with the sabzi,how much rice and puris?I usually do 50 pounds of rice,so today we did 80 pounds of rice.Does it all get eaten?I hope I don’t run out today.You hope you don’t run out?And the puris, that’s like30 pounds of flour.We don’t have such expertrollers, they’re fast.So you put it through here,and then you turn it 90 degrees,and then push that in there,and out comes our puri.So this all just makes it faster,the process?Yeah.Can I grab some glovesand throw a couple in this machine?-Not this way?-No, you drop it up there first.Oh, drop it in the top.And then it comes down.You got to get... there we go.Ahhh, this is fun.Puris like raindrops, you know?They're all differentshapes and sizes.Thank you again, this was so fun.My mom would be really impressedthat I managed this.They put up this curtainso that Krishna can eat...and eat.So you know the other one,you had to close your eyes?This one, it’s like theyput up the curtainso we can eat in privacy.Right now, you can see the priestsare putting food into bucketsso we can all eat the foodthat Krishna tasted.-OK.-Let’s put our shoes on.Yeah.That was quite an experience.Yes, it was!I circumambulated a few times.-There you go.-I made it.Yeah, it’s recommended inthe scripture thatif you circumambulatethe Govardhan Hill three times,at least three times,then all of the inauspicioussnakes of material desireswill not bite you.Yes!-I think I did it three times.-There you are.There was quite a bit of trafficthe first time,but then it started to clear out,and I started dodging and weaving,so I think we’ve got it covered.What’s happening out here now isthey’re distributing the Maha Prasad,which is the Govardhan Hillthat you circumambulated just now.Oh, this is the hill.This is what you’regoing to enjoy later.Yeah. We can’t eat a little bit now?Oh, yeah, absolutely.Yeah? I didn’t knowif there was rules.No, no.Then we have somesweets there, savories.There’s all kinds of things,fruits, nuts.Should we get into the Prasad line?-Prasad is straight down this way.-Great.Let’s go get some food.The small plate of foodis Maha Prasadand was taken fromthe actual offerings to Krishna.There’s only enough for everyoneto have a small sample,so they’ve also preparedmore food or “Prasad”for everyone to have their fill.First of all, we havesome basmati rice.Cholay .This is the sabzi that you worked on.Pakoras.Oh, these are pakoras?Oh, this is a puri.Yes. And here we havesome kofta balls.The kofta is a cabbage andvegetable mixin a spicy tomato sauce.This is a fruit smoothie.Fruit smoothie.Yes. We're going to grabone of these for you.-And then---Lassi.We have some mango lassi.I’m never going toneed to eat again after today.I grew up on Indian food, andI know all different parts of Indiahave all different kinds of foods.I haven’t had an aloo gobi sabzilike this one before.Not that it’s wrong, I don’t thinkthere’s any wrong or right,-but it’s like...-East and West.Yeah, yeah. East and West, exactly.Like, there’s a muffin on your plate,Hare Krishna food,it’s a little bit of a mishmashof a muffin and a smoothiewith your sabzi that has sour cream.It’s like, hey, hey, it’s...And with a pakora on the side.You get the gist.When you offer something to Krishna,what differentiates it from food thatyou would normally get anywhere elseis that Krishna has tasted it,and it’s become sweeter becauseKrishna has left his saliva there.The door to the soulis through the belly.That’s right.Now, are Hare Krishnas,is it a sect or a part of Hinduism?It’s a sect in Vedic philosophy,in Vedic culture.The difference between Krishnaconsciousness, the Hare Krishnas,and your present-day Hindu,typically Hindu means to beborn into the tradition.To be a Hare Krishna,it doesn’t matter whether you’recoming from Islam or Christianityor Judaism or Buddhismor whatever, it doesn’t matter.You can be a Hare Krishnajust by followingthe regular principlesof Krishna consciousnessand by chanting.-Thank you so much...-You’re welcome very much.for meeting with meand taking me around.-It was a pleasure.-Yeah.So, end of day,and I’ve realized thatthe Hare Krishna temple is kind oflike the United Colors of Benetton.There’s been people dancing,and there’s been hills of food,and just a lot of communityand a lot of people,kind of like India itself.But at the first temple,it was small,it felt like a community.Every person wasbringing their own dish,and they were sharing italmost like a tiny village, whereeveryone’s kind of in it together.And with the HareKrishnas, it’s likeeven if you’re fromthe middle of the countryand you find that a blue baby godwho’s thousands of years oldresonates with you,then you're welcome to join them,even if you're from the Midwest,even if you’re white.And that’s incredible.But in both places,what I will say is thatwhether you’re eating with the Hindusor eating with the Hare Krishnas,the food is incredible.And if there’s anything thatI’ve learned on the food front,it’s that Krishna’s spitreally packs on the pounds.\n"