Taste of Life: Sacred role of food in honouring the dead

Hindustan Times

31-07-2025

Food is an integral part of commemorating the dead. People remember the deceased through the everyday act of eating and reintegrate the bereaved into the community in which the deceased no longer lives. After Tilak's statue was erected in front of the then Reay Market (now Mahatma Phule Mandai), people would queue to offer their respects and place 'naivedya', the consecrated offering of food, in front of it. 'Annadaan', the charity of food, was an important feature of Tilak's death anniversary in Pune. (HT ARCHIVES)
Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak, one of the tallest Indian leaders, died in the early hours of August 1, 1920, at Sardargriha in Bombay. The entire nation was drowned in sorrow, and his funeral brought together the largest gathering on the Girgaum Chowpatty Sands in the city.
The ashes of the Lokmanya were brought to Pune by a special train on the morning of August 3 by his two sons. They were carried in a sandalwood casket, which was placed inside a palanquin on a bullock cart. Thousands participated in the procession. People stood along the way of the procession with folded hands and tears in their eyes. Men, women, and children offered garlands to the ashes whenever they got a chance. The palanquin was led by groups singing bhajans to the accompaniment of cymbals. The chants of 'Tilak Maharaj ki Jai' and 'Ramkrishna Hari' filled the air. When the palanquin reached the mosque near Daruwala Bridge, the bhajans stopped and everybody chanted 'Hindu-Musalman ki Jai' in unison. It took six hours for the procession to reach Gaekwad Wada, Tilak's residence, from the railway station four kilometres away.
Many households in Pune observed mourning for the customary thirteen days according to the Hindu tradition after Tilak's death. On the fourteenth day, they invited Brahmins to lunch to signify the end of the mourning period.
It became a tradition for many families in Pune to observe Tilak's death anniversary and perform rituals to remember him. Dada Malshe, a leader of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), told me a few years ago about his uncle who fasted between Tilak's birth and death anniversary.
After Tilak's statue was erected in front of the then Reay Market (now Mahatma Phule Mandai), people would queue to offer their respects and place 'naivedya', the consecrated offering of food, in front of it. 'Annadaan', the charity of food, was an important feature of Tilak's death anniversary in Pune.
'Annadaan' holds great significance across religions and is considered a holy and benevolent act, with several rituals associated with it. It is performed in different forms and ways. Some offer food daily to the needy, while others offer food to students. Food is donated at certain festivities. It is also offered in remembrance of a deceased member of the family. The practice of donating food on the occasion of the annual 'shraddha', the Hindu rituals performed in honour of one's deceased ancestors, is common.
Noble families like Mehendale, Khasgiwale, Natu, and Raste were known for holding 'annadaan' lunches on 'shraddha' ceremonies. NB Dhumal, a famous bicycle dealer in Pune, was praised for his benevolence, where he organised 'annadaan' for five hundred differently abled people every year on his father's death anniversary.
Many families donated food according to their capabilities on Tilak's death anniversary. Raghunath Gokhale, who worked as a teacher in a school in Poona Cantonment, told me about his grandfather, who, along with a Maratha colleague of his, took responsibility for feeding five students every year as a mark of respect for Tilak. Shrimant Dajisaheb Patwardhan organised a feast on Tilak's death anniversary at his residence near Shanipar for 'madhukaris', students who lived by begging for food grains which they could cook themselves.
Shankar Gopal Karmarkar, owner of the Lokmanya Motor Service in Sangli, hosted lunch for eight hundred people every year on Tilak's death anniversary. In 1925, he decided to donate food in Pune, too. Accordingly, he spent ₹800 for the cause. Groceries and vegetables were bought, and more than 1,200 men lunched to commemorate Tilak.
From 1928, prominent disciples and associates of Tilak organised a feast on the occasion every year for around ten thousand people at the ground behind Reay Market from 11 am to 4 pm. Rice, 'amti' (a sweet and sour preparation of lentils), and 'shira' (a sweet dessert made with semolina, ghee, and sugar) were part of the menu. Narsimha Chintaman Kelkar, Lakshman Balwant Bhopatkar, and Shankarrao Karpe, the mayor of Pune, kept an eye on all the arrangements. Volunteers from the Maharashtriya Mandal, Bharat Swayamsevak Mandal, and Anath Vidyarthi Gruha, under the leadership of Shivrampant Damle, Antukaka Phadnis, and Gopalrao Mahajan, were in charge of cooking and serving the food. A separate feast was organised for the junior workers of the Pune municipality.
The municipality made special arrangements for the supply of water for cooking and drinking by installing taps for the occasion. These feasts were mostly exclusive to men. However, women thronged to have a look since such large feasts were not held in Pune at that time.
'Kesari', the Marathi newspaper co-founded by Tilak, had always promoted the cause of 'Swadeshi' with great enthusiasm. After Tilak's demise, though it prominently engaged itself with Hindutva, the newspaper published advertisements for Indian goods, especially sugar, a month before his birth and death anniversaries, urging its readers to pay their respects to the leader by vowing to use merchandise and food made in India. Well-known confectioners in Pune, like Kaka Halwai, also advertised their products, especially the 'pedha', assuring the customers that they were cooked with 'swadeshi' sugar and hence, were fit to be offered to the departed soul of the Lokmanya.
It is noteworthy that Tilak's death anniversary was not observed on August 1 according to the Gregorian calendar, but according to the Tilak Almanack, the Hindu astrological almanack that he had reformed.
It began to be celebrated on a large scale in Pune in the late 1920s, partly due to the growing tensions between Brahmins and non-Brahmins and the tussle between Tilakists and Gandhians.
After Tilak had passed away, his associates like Shivram Mahadev Paranjape, Krushnaji Prabhakar Khadilkar, and Vasukaka Joshi followed Gandhi. Kelkar, a lawyer, dramatist, novelist, essayist, poet, and politician, however, declared himself the leader of Maharashtra and became the foremost leader of the Tilak faction in the Congress Party.
Kelkar and his followers disagreed with Gandhi on several issues, including non-violence, the non-cooperation movement, and electoral reforms. Kelkar, MS Moonjay, Jamnadas Mehta and others revived the Democratic Swarajya Party in 1933, which was originally established by Tilak in 1920. The commemoration of the death anniversary became a tool to assert political dominance and bring back Tilak's thoughts.
Both Congress and the Democratic Swarajya Party observed Tilak's death anniversary in their own ways. The Congress organised speeches and lectures, while the Democratic Swarajya Party organised feasts and religious sermons.
Madhu Limaye, the socialist activist, wrote in his autobiography that the followers of Tilak were later criticised by progressive students for organising Brahminical feasts on his death anniversary while completely ignoring his beliefs and indulging in hatred for Gandhi.
Gandhi was a pallbearer at Tilak's funeral procession, and it was far from a symbolic gesture. It marked the beginning of a new era in Indian politics.
Gandhi had rushed to Sardargriha immediately after hearing about Tilak's demise. When he went to lift Tilak's bier, he was stopped because he was not a Brahmin. He calmly replied, 'The servant of the people has no caste'. A few moments later, Maulana Shaukat Ali joined him.
Tilak thus transcended caste and religion in his death.
Chinmay Damle is a research scientist and food enthusiast. He writes here on Pune's food culture. He can be contacted at [e-mail]