very few places on this planet are
blessed with so much fullness
nestled nearly 21 kilometers outside the
busy Silicon headquarters of India
Bangalore is the art of living
International Centre popularly known as
the sri sri ravi shankar ashram millions
of people from nearly every country on
this planet visit this place each year
it's not just a holiday that they come
seeking for they come here seeking
something more
they come here seeking peace serenity
rejuvenation and above all knowledge and
spiritual upliftment the ashram is home
to everyone who enters its gates on an
average around 1 lakh people visit this
place every month while 700 lived
permanently on its premises the rest
come here for a couple of days to attend
the immensely popular Art of Living
courses to learn meditation to unwind
and recharge but most importantly
to catch a glimpse of their beloved
master Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
you can easily call this place the
largest extended family in the world
there are 1,100 rooms an 18,000 square
feet kitchen a 40,000 square feet dining
area that caters to thousands of people
every day there are no holidays for this
kitchen come what may
365 days a year rain or storm the food
is served on time Navaratri the nine-day
period from the new moon day to the
ninth day of ashwin month is considered
auspicious it is one of the biggest
festivals celebrated at the art living
ashram poojas home ours
trills singing dancing meditations food
and festivities are the hallmark of
these grand celebrations that continue
for the nine days lakhs of people from
all sections of society from all over
the world gather here to witness this
grandiose spectacle of divinity and
faith it is a stream the eighth day of
Navaratri it is the pinnacle of poojas
homas and celebrations nearly seventy
five thousand people are expected at the
ashram today they all will be having +
aden on the customary blessed food at
the ashram kitchen
like every day
an army of enthusiastic volunteers gears
up for the job in the basement of the
kitchen armed with heavy duty knives and
chopping bones
today for lunch
the menu is plain rice curd rice rice
bias polio gray moong dal Alva al
mukarrama nice Archie
Oh but Papa sandy King sweet boondi and
caribou knee and the boom has already
started
a cylinder of cooking gas in an average
household lasts up to two to three
months but if you have a stove like this
then not more than 25 minutes on an
average 180 to 200 cylinders are
consumed by this kitchen in a month and
it is not the only source of fuel
you
this huge steamer heats up 2,000 gallons
of water which provide enough power and
steam to cook rice and boil tall and
vegetables this mammoth steam world
consumes one ton of eco-friendly fuel
breaks every day
the cooks of this massive kitchen are
masters of their craft
they don't need to measure salt and
spices by tablespoons a few kilos
sprinkled just with a rough estimate by
this master chefs turns out to be just
right in these nine days of Navratri a
mind-boggling 1 lakh twenty-five
thousand kilograms of food items have
been consumed 30 thousand kilograms of
rice 7,000 kilograms of potato
mm programs of ki 9,000 kilograms of
tomato
7,000 kilograms cauliflower
2,000 kilograms of Durga 11,000 litres
of milk and other spices have been used
to prepare this delectable sattvic using
the quantity of salt itself that rented
to the food was nothing less than a
staggering 2000 kgs all the food cooked
him his pure sattvic food
sattvic meaning high energy vegetarian
food which increases the subtle life
force prana in the body not only
physical cleanliness is important inside
the kitchen but a lot of emphasis is
given to purity of mind as well all this
has a positive effect on the food it's
already 12:30 p.m. and the food has to
be laid out by one o'clock it's a race
against time it is more than surprising
that this humongous kitchen is manned by
a handful of people
it doesn't look like much of a concern
everything is flowing as smoothly as
everyday preparing the food is one thing
and serving it to thousands of people in
less than one hour is another Herculean
task but before that the food needs to
be transported to the dining area
they've got it just in time
you
the hearts are already situated with
bliss and festivity and today nearly
75,000 people have gone back with the
satiated stump
meanwhile in the kitchen the preparation
for the next meal has already started