The practices for Navarātri are rich with connections between nature and ritual. In this lesson we will look closely at how these connections are expressed in the foods that are offered to the Devī as नैवेद्य (naivedya), and distributed as प्रसाद (prasāda), delicious, tangible vehicles for the blessings of the Supreme Goddess.
In reading the Devī Mahātmya, we see the Devī described as both the primordial energy from which all creation springs forth, and as creation itself. So as the earth, She brings forth life, and She sustains and nourishes all living beings. The rhythms of nature and the seasons arise from Her. One of Her names, Vaṇadurgā, the Devī of the forests, reflects Her intimate connection with the land, fields, forests and groves, and everything that grows there.
When devotees prepare offerings of food and flowers for the Devī, it’s easy to find yourself pausing and reflecting like this: Whatever I seek in nature to offer the Devī is actually a form of the Devī. I can only offer Her some of the exquisite fruits of Her own abundance, infused with my devotion and awe.
Traditional प्रसाद (prasāda) for the nine nights of Navarātri can vary from a few raisins mixed with pieces of rock sugar (miṣrī), to huge trays of delicious, nourishing, regional meals and delicacies. For many devotees, these offerings are created primarily as an expression of devotion, and great feeling goes into their elaborate preparation. For others, the emphasis is more austere, keeping their offerings sattvik yet simple, so they don’t require spending a lot of time in the kitchen.
Among the many traditions, we will go into more detail here about a few forms of prasāda that are fairly universal across different regions and communities: fresh seasonal fruits and some form of khīr (commonly spelled kheer) or milky sweet dish.
खीर (kheer), which is called pāyasam in South India, and pāyeśa in Bengal, is a sweet milk pudding typically made with either rice or vermicelli. Here we will learn about two other popular forms, one made with tapioca pearls, the other with opo squash (bottle gourd.) Any of these four types of kheer are ideal as Navarātri prasāda, while the two we will study here are suitable for people observing upavāsa, gentle fasting, for this Devī festival.
So knowingly, or simply by following traditions, many people prepare food offerings that are exquisitely attuned to Ayurveda’s health recommendations for śarad-ṛtu, autumn – the season in which this sacred celebration takes place.
In the lesson on the Ayurvedic approach and recommendations for śarad-ṛtu, autumn we saw that despite the weather beginning to cool down, fall is a time when the accumulated heat of summer is stirred up and seeking release. So we help this natural process by focusing on foods that are sweet, bitter and/astringent, and light to digest.
It’s fascinating to see how well the ingredients in the prasāda recipes below match with the recommendations of Ayurveda for this season.
So let’s look at the ingredients of these prasāda dishes, so we can understand how brilliantly – and deliciously – they have been designed. You may well feel inspired to befriend the less familiar ingredients and cook with them regularly, once you read about their great qualities.
Tapioca Pearls are made from cassava root and known as साबूदाना (sābūdānā) in Marathi and much of northern and western India, and javvarisi in Tamil. Ayurveda defines tapioca as मधुर (madhura), sweet and nourishing, तिक्त (tikta), bitter tasting, and easy to digest when it is fully cooked. This is an ideal combination in fall for calming and removing the excess heat that has built up in our bodies during summer.
From a Western perspective, tapioca is described as more than just a starch. It is rich in iron and potassium, a good source of dietary fiber, and provides sustained energy.
इक्ष्वाकु (ikṣvāku) or क्षीर्तुबी (kṣīrtumbī) – Opo Squash, Bottle Gourd or Calabash. Better known by its Hindi and Marathi names लौकी (lauki) and दूधी (dūdhi), chunks of translucent opo squash are a familiar sight in sambhār, the spicy lentil soup that is served with dosas and other popular South Indian dishes. They bring a welcome bite of something mild and cool to an otherwise pungent soup. In fact, bottle gourd is a staple in home cooking across India.
Ayurveda defines opo squash, or bottle gourd, as मधुर (madhura), sweet and nourishing, cooling, and easy to digest – qualities that are ideal for fall. When it’s cooked with milk and ghee, the combination has highly desirable effects: it creates sattva, a peaceful, luminous state of mind, and it also builds ओजस् (ojas), immune strength.
Opo squash is not only easy to digest but it also gives a boost to many aspects of our overall digestion, like relieving gas and constipation, and helping the liver function well. It’s interesting too that bottle gourd is both wonderfully refreshing and hydrating, and at the same time it has a diuretic effect, and it really helps with burning urination. These can be much needed qualities in autumn as we flush out the excess residue of heat from summer.
Ayurveda describes opo squash as great for reducing both pitta, what we can call the fiery forces within us that digest and transform everything we take in, and vata, the cool, airy force that propels movement within us. At the same time, it helps build healthy kapha, the earthy, stabilizing force that keeps building and replenishing us (i.e. it helps build healthy tissues without making you fat). From the Western perspective, opo squash may be very watery, but it’s still quite rich in minerals and nutrients.
दुग्ध (Dugdha) – Milk. Since ancient times, the warm milk of cows has been an invaluable form of sustenance that is revered as sacred. This is not only because cows are honored as a form of Lakṣmī Devī, the Goddess of wealth in the Vedic tradition, but also because cow’s milk promotes sattva, a calm, lucid state of mind, a state of inner peace and heightened spiritual sensitivity.
From the perspective of Ayurveda, दुग्ध (dugdha) or full cream, organic cow’s milk, is मधुर (madhura) sweet (meaning it is very mildly sweet in taste and nourishing), and cooling — ideal for this season — and wonderfully स्निग्ध (snigdha) or unctuous and softening. It is jīvaniya, life giving and rasāyana, rejuvenating and calming, and it strengthens not only the body but also the intellect and immunity.
घृत (Ghṛta), Ghee or clarified butter is a mainstay of health in Ayurveda. It is मधुर (madhura), sweet tasting (meaning that it is mild and nourishing), and शीत (shīta), cooling: ideal qualities for sarad rtu. At the same time, plays a very important role in keeping the digestive fire strong, which is much needed in this season. It’s a great source of nourishment, strength, and immunity, though in this season it needs be eaten in small quantities.
गुड (Guḍa), Jaggery is unrefined cane sugar, rich with minerals and earthy sweetness. It boosts both digestion and elimination, and gives a slow release energy boost. Ayurveda describes guda, jaggery, as मधुर (madhura), sweet and nourishing – wonderful in this season – but also heavy to digest in excessive quantities. It’s somewhat more उष्ण (uṣṇa), heating, than most of the other ingredients, but this is balanced by the cooling quality of the other ingredients
इक्षु (ikṣu), Raw Cane Sugar is more refined than jaggery. One of the big differences in its effect is that raw sugar is शीत (śīta), cooling, whereas jaggery is somewhat heating. These sweet, cooling qualities of raw sugar make it helpful in this season. Of course, it’s heavy so it’s always wise to eat it in moderation.
मिश्री (miṣrī) or खडी साखर (khaḍi sakhara), Rock Sugar is processed quite differently from the raw and white sugars we are used to seeing, and without the involvement of chemicals. So it has traditionally been considered the purest form of sugar to use in sacred rituals.
In Ayurvedic terms rock sugar is मधुर (madhura), sweet in taste, शीत (śīta), cooling, and लघु (laghu), light to digest, and very refreshing for both the body and the mind. These are ideal qualities for calming and releasing excess heat in fall. Sucking a few crystals is also a good way to relieve coughing.
एला (Elā), Cardamom is a delightful, fragrant spice. It is great for helping food get digested properly and avoiding gas, which is the role it plays in these two sweet dishes. Ayurveda describes cardamom as मधुर (madhura) slightly sweet, and also कटु (kaṭu), pungent, in taste. It is उष्ण (uṣṇa) heating – though not excessively, and तीक्ष्ण (tīkṣṇa) penetrating. It calms imbalances in all three dośas or forces within the body.
तरुणी (taruṇī), शतपत्री (śatapatrī), Rose is wonderfully cooling and light to digest, and while its may taste slightly bitter and astringent when you eat them, after digestion they create a sweet effect. So they are another friend for resolving the kinds of inflammations that break out unexpectedly in fall.
Roses have the प्रभाव (prabhāva), the special effect, of being a heart tonic, both for the heart organ and the heart where our feelings and emotions center. So just as rose petals help clear up patches redness in the skin, they help soothe anger and irritability, whether it’s caused by work exhaustion or political outrage. I have noticed that when people take rose petal jam, known as gulkand, for acidity, it also helps them becomes calm.
This is a gentle, liquid, mildly sweet dish that is both light and sustaining.
Ingredients:
How to make it:
This is a soft, liquid, sweet dish that’s rich with the good qualities of opo squash. The combination of opo squash cooked in milk and ghee is highly sattvik: it is very pure and light, a promotes a calm, lucid state of mind. It is also very nourishing.
Ingredients:
How to make it:
Note: If you want to make this dish thicked, you can double the quantity of opo squash. This version is a popular breakfast for kids.
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Teacher: Hema Patankar
Maitreya Larios is a scholar and practitioner of the ancient and living traditions of India. He has been a practitioner of Indian spirituality since he was 9 years old.
In 2013, he obtained a doctorate in classical Indology from the University of Heidelberg in Germany, where he is currently employed as a research fellow. He wrote his dissertation on the living Vedic traditions of Maharashtra, which will appear as a book in late 2015.
He is most excited about being a student of Sanskrit and philosophy and about igniting that enthusiasm in his students. His personal journey over the 26 years of studentship in this tradition has been a humbling experience, but it is a path that he assures brings the most amazing transformations.
Besides his area of expertise as a scholar of Indian culture and religion, Maitreya is passionate about photography, visual arts, traveling and vegan/vegetarian cooking.
He is happily married and a father to a beautiful boy named Kabīr.
Few artists have the power to create an indelible impact on the minds of their audiences through their art form and one such name in the world of Kathak is Shambhavi Dandekar. Shambhavi Dandekar as an accomplished Indian Kathak master performer, has carved a niche for herself through her sheer talent, unique performances and unparelled choreography, that has brought her recognition on the national as well as the international platforms.
As a young dancer, Shambhavi started her training under the able guidance of her own mother and renowned Guru Pandita Maneesha Sathe, a celebrated dancer and a teacher in her own right. Shambhavi then went on to complete her intense training in ‘laya and tala’ or rhythm and beats from Table virtuoso “Taalyogi” Pandit Suresh Talwalkar. Along with her top-notch traditional dance training, Shambhavi also has a strong academic educational background with a Bachelors in Commerce and two Masters degrees in Dance. Furthermore, she also holds Diplomas both in French and Sanskrit.
Shambhavi has more than 20 years of teaching experience at an undergraduate and a graduate level at various dance education institutions in India. She has also started her own international school of dance in 2008, called ‘Shambhavi’s International School of Kathak’ or SISK. SISK is a prominent and a thriving international institution with five branches in India and the United States of America with over 400 students and a staff of 15 teachers who are trained by Shambhavi herself.
SISK has produced many a talented student over the years. Shambhavi’s years of experience, intellectual understanding and analysis of the nuances of the art form, has helped her create stellar performers out of her dedicated students. Many of her students are emerging as budding Kathak professionals. Shambhavi guides performers and students all over the world through workshops and master classes.
Shivani is a meditation teacher and multi-disciplinary artist, and the founder of Living Sanskrit. Born both American and into the yogic tradition, she is devoted to preserving and accurately practicing ancient indigenous wisdom in modern times and non-native contexts.
Shivani first heard Sanskrit in the womb, and not a day has gone by without it. She grew up immersed in dharma culture, yogic teachings, and sacred practices under the guidance of her spiritual teacher and also her grandmother.
Living Sanskrit is the culmination of a long-held dream to keep this tradition alive and share its magnificent gifts with the world.
Shivani started teaching meditation in 2001, and professionally a few years later at the suggestion of her spiritual teacher. Since then, Shivani has shared meditation with thousands of people at venues that range from corporate offices to hospitals to schools. From 2008-2014, Shivani was a Fellow with the Berkeley Initiative for Mindfulness and Law, leading retreats and weekly meditation sessions at Berkeley Law School.
Alongside teaching, Shivani is a prolific artist, photographer, and writer. She is a graduate of the Waterfront Conservatory and Playhouse, a member of the California Bar, and has a J.D. from the University of Southern California and a B.A. in Rhetoric with minors in Theater, Business Administration, and South Asian Studies from the University of California, Berkeley.
She lives with her beloved husband Nick in Redwood City, California, where she can often be found dancing, gardening, listening to birdsong, and hiking in nature.
Ekabhumi is an award-winning poet, author, illustrator, yoga instructor and arts educator with 18 years of international teaching experience. Through a ritualized and meditative creative method, he makes artworks for ceremonial and educational use that help people deepen their spiritual practice, recognize the divinity of common experiences, and find meaning in the beauty of our world. His artworks may be found in yoga studios, private homes, and on altars around the world. He is currently part of the core faculty of livingsanskrit.com.
His name was given by his first guru during a formal initiation ceremony into a tantric yoga lineage in 2005. Since that time, he has studied with many spiritual teachers and traditional artists both in India and the States. His art teachers include eminent western figurative painters like Domenic Cretara, as well as Newar artist Dinesh Charan Shrestha, Bikaner-style miniature painter Mahaveer Swami, Thangka painter Andy Weber, and yantra painter Mavis Gewant.
Ekabhumi’s writing and artwork has been published widely, appearing in anthologies and journals like The Poetry of Yoga, Berkeley Fiction Review, and Pearl, as well as books like Tantra Illuminated by Christopher Hareesh Wallis and Awakening Shakti by Sally Kempton. His instructional Shakti Coloring Book and the uplifting Bhakti Coloring Book are now available world-wide from Sounds True Press.
Though his first love is the arts, he has a wide range of interests that are reflected in his many past occupations: event producer, stock options broker, handyman, journalist, ski boot fitter, competitive surfer and champion sailor. He toured internationally as a performance poet, and the poets he coached won numerous regional and national titles. He facilitated writer’s groups, hosted poetry readings, and organized spoken-word festivals for nearly 20 years, culminating in the acclaimed 2009 Individual World Poetry Slam.
Ekabhumi is an inspiring, playful yet methodical teacher who helps students cultivate deeper intuitive states. For nearly two decades, he variously taught yoga, painting, public speaking, and creative writing to students ranging from kindergarten to post-graduate level. Much of his time is now spent creating educational material about interpreting, making, and utilizing sacred art of the dharma traditions. On weekends, he can be found in his garden practicing silence and learning directly from Nature.
Hema Patankar has spent her life immersed in study, practice and service to the Vedic tradition. It began when she was a teenager irresistibly attracted to the sound of Sanskrit and images of yogis who had become profoundly wise and blissful through meditation.
An alumni of a gurukula in Western India, Hema spent over 30 years intimately engaged with the traditions that have emerged from the Vedas. She worked on research, translation, and editorial projects in the company of learned pandits and scholars. She assisted with yajnas – ancient fire ceremonies – and rituals, which allowed her to get extraordinarily close to the living practice of Vedic traditions. She immersed herself in the sādhana of singing Sanskrit hymns and the songs of the poet saints, which she studied intensively with her Gurus and traditional devotional singers. She became known for devotional singing, and taught students from around the world.
Hema has a passion for the preservation of sacred Vedic heritage. For several years she was the Executive Director of the Muktabodha Indological Research Institute. There she spearheaded the development of an extensive online collection of rare Sanskrit texts. She nurtured the establishment of a traditional Vedic school where an endangered branch of the Vedas is preserved. She also directed the video documentation of remarkable Vedic rituals and brought rare texts on Śaiva philosophy and Vedic ritual to publication.
She later studied traditional Āyūrveda and earned a Vaidya Bhusana (vaidyabhūṣaṇa) Ayurvedic Practitioner degree. She is President of the Board of Trustees of Vedika Global, a school for the study and practice of traditional Āyūrveda and Vedic sciences. She has published articles on Āyūrveda, the Bhakti tradition, and the preservation of Vedic manuscripts. Most recently she edited a text on Vedic full and new moon rituals. Her current writing focuses on the intersection of living Ayurveda with the rituals and philosophy of the Vedic tradition.