Commercial LPG shortage forces historic Ghati Subrahmanya Temple in Doddaballapur to cut prasadam distribution and switch to traditional wood stoves for cooking
Bengaluru: The ongoing LPG supply shortage has begun affecting religious institutions as well, with the historic Ghati Subrahmanya Temple in Doddaballapur facing a serious shortage of commercial gas cylinders used for cooking prasadam.
Speaking to NewsFlash Daily™, Narayan Swami, Food Distribution Authority Manager said the temple administration has introduced temporary arrangements to ensure that food continues to be served to devotees.
“Due to the gas shortage, instead of lunch, we served breakfast items till 4 pm today. Preparing multiple food items has become difficult, so we adopted an alternative method rather than stopping food distribution,” he said.
He further added that from Friday onward, the temple kitchen will shift to traditional wood-fired stoves for cooking.
“Cooking on a wood stove takes longer than cooking with gas. Food preparation may be delayed by nearly an hour, but we will not stop providing food to devotees,” the official said.
Cooking Capacity Reduced Due to Gas Shortage
Temple authorities said the kitchen earlier used a steam cooking system capable of preparing one quintal of rice within 15 minutes, but the system has been halted due to the LPG shortage.
Officials confirmed that only four LPG cylinders are currently available, making it difficult to cook food in large quantities.
Because of this, the temple has temporarily suspended the mid-day meal system and revised the prasadam distribution process.
Prasadam Distribution Reduced for Devotees
According to temple sources, the shrine normally provides prasadam meals to nearly 12,000 devotees during weekends and holidays.
However, with the current cooking limitations, the temple administration has reduced the distribution to around 5,000 devotees per day until the gas supply situation improves.
The Ghati Subrahmanya Temple, one of the prominent pilgrimage centres near Bengaluru, attracts thousands of devotees every week.
Temple authorities expressed hope that regular LPG supply will resume soon, allowing the kitchen to restore normal food service for the large number of pilgrims visiting the shrine.
