Biriyani Offering at a Temple

Muniyandi Kovil, Tamil Nadu

Temples have a very important place in the Hindu tradition of worship. Everyday, offering are made to the consecrated Deity of each temple in the form of light, flowers, food etc.. The offerings are later distributed among the devotees. Usually they are of the vegetarian kind.

Interestingly, Muniyandi Kovil (Kovil means small temple in Tamil language) in the state of Tamil Nadu in South India offers Mutton Biriyani¹ (a non-vegetarian food) as offerings to devotees.

There is a very sentimental story behind this offer of Mutton Biriyani Prasadam at Muniyandi Kovil.

The history behind the Mutton Biriyani Prasadam

In 1937 a man by the name Guru Swamy started a small hotel in the village of Vadakam Petty, 45 kilometers away from the famous temple city of Madurai. The hotel became a run away success even to the surprise of enterprising Guru Swamy who believed it to be the blessing of the Deity Muniyandy of the nearby Kovil. An inspired Guruswamy along with another fellow worshipper of Muniyandi, Sundaram Reddy, started two more hotels in the neighbouring towns of Kalligudy and Virudh Nagar naming them ‘Muniyandi Hotels’. Needless to say those two hotels also became very successful and Guruswamy to show his gratitude offered his most popular food in the hotel – Mutton Biryani – as an offering to Deity Muniyandi on the day of temple festival serving everyone who visited the temple with  Mutton Biriyani.

Over the years, many have started following the business model of Guruswamy and have started ‘Muniyanid Hotels’ all over south India. Most of these hotels have become so successful and popular that they keep a side a certain amount of tiths which they offer to the Muniyandi Kovil. There are around 1500 ‘Muniyandi Hotels’ in South India, their success stories have taken the name to states like Andhra, Karnataka, Puducherry etc. 

Growing Popularity

As the news of the Mutton Biriyani spread, the festival is attracting vistors from all over India, nearly 8000 devotees visited the Kovil last year during the festival day. 1800 Kilos of Biryani Rice and 200 goats worth of Biriyani was served during the festival days of last year.

The festival falls on the last Thursday of January and runs for the next three days. The festival is also a beautiful example of the inclusive tradition of the Hindu culture, assimilating and evolving giving everything a place than to discard and destroy.

Potato Wedges

Potato wedges, Baker's fry, Jojo, Tatar fry these irresistible wedges are known by many names around the world. The process of making them is simple, cut, boil, pepper salt, fridge, fry. Some folks soak them in milk, dip them in flour and then fry them.

Either way it will break your heart. ❤️

Christmas and New Year in Russia

 Let us have a quick read about how Christmas and New year are celebrated in a different way in Russia and why they are so:

1. Christmas was banned by the Soviet government for nearly 7 decades as a religious festival, gradually New year Celebration took its place. After the Perestroika and Glasnost of the 90's Christmas has come back though it is still celebrated on a low key. 

2. Russian Orthodox Church uses a Julian calendar while the rest of the world follows the Gregorian Calendar. The Julian Calendar is 13 days behind the Gregorian and the Russian Orthodox Christmas is celebrated on January 7th. 

3. Children in Russia wait for Ded Moroz (Grandfather Frost) to bring them new year gifts than the Sanata Clauz we are familiar with. Following the Russian Revolution of 1917, Christmas and the use of Christmas tree are banned since 1929. The tree appears on New year eve and day celebrations.  

4.The New year Celebration is mostly a food party. A lot of food is cooked on the day like the famous Russian Salad, appetizers with red caviar and meat, enough to be served over the new year week. 

5.The new year celebration is a family  affair, on New Year's eve, everyone gets together by 10 pm for dinner, then they talk catching up with each others life, then watch an old soviet era movie. On the New year day, the president comes on TV and address the nation with a new year message at noon followed by the chiming of Kremlin bells for 12 times upon which everyone make a wish and raise a glass of champagne and make a toast.  

A parting glass

Long ago, Thomas Carlyle, told, " A man must get his happiness out of his work. His first of the many  problems is to find the work he is meant to do in the world. Without work he enjoys he can never know what happiness is." He then went on to coin his famous phrase, " Know thy work and do it." 

2020 took that joy out from us yet we believe we are blessed to be alive at the end of it. As the year take its leave, we rise our parting glass as a friend and brother, 

"Thank you for the lessons, 2020!"

Farm tourism around Munnar in trouble

Farm tourism that grew around Munnar and it's tourism is in trouble in these covid days. Farmers in places like Anchunadu, Marayur, Kanthallur, Vattavada had started growing fruits like apple, orange, plum, peach, guava, mosambi, passion fruit, tamarillo etc. and they used to get vistors to their farm even during off season. The farm fresh fruits were a delight which fetched some additional income for the farmers. The tea companies had let their workers grow oranges which went well for the tea shrubs growth, these oranges though small are very sweet and were a favourite among visitors. 

Solanum Betaceum  (Tamarillo) by C.T. Johansson

Licensed under a  CC BY-SA 3.0 License

The organic Marayur Jaggery which was made around the sugar cane fields of Kanthallur and Marayur has also lost its market. The worst hit, perhaps, among all are the strawberry farmers of Kanthallur and Vattavada, the flight restrictions have slowed down the export of these highly perishable fruits and no agents are turning up for their purchase nor do the farmers have the means to preserve them, pushing the farmers of the Devikulam taluk into deep trouble.  Strawberries need special care and attention unlike other fruits. Government's strawberry park in Munnar barely have any visitors during these slump months.

Low margins of OTAs

Online Travel Agents (OTA) offer discounts, cashbacks and flexible travel booking to survive the blow dealt by the pandemic. Needless to say the "offers" are squeezing their margins. 

Recently we saw EaseMyTrip, ClearTrip (airline ticketing agents), MakeMyTrip, SOTC, ixigo, Thomas Cook (wholesome trip providers) offering 50-60% discounts. These deals were possible only because all the key partners across the industry like carriers, hotels etc., who were also badly bitten by the pandemic induced slump were offering big discounts to survive. 

Though these offers had some positive impact mostly it was never more than 65% use of inventory. 

In airline ticket booking where 20% of the margin is linked with volumes there was not much to feel happy about especially when there were hardly any margin earlier too, as India is a low cost driven market. 

Hotel bookings are running at one third of the last year's, as guests are waiting to confirm the booking using the flexible booking option. 

Though the reliable McKinsey report on OTA says their structure and the variable costs involved help them to absorb the fluctuation it should not be forgotten travel industry, in general, is margin and volume driven without both they cannot offer the key partners a contract or commission for the services. 

With the changing situation let us hope a service provider will also find it convenient to stick to an OTA brand than a one sided chase by the OTAs to find and keep a service provider. 

It's Rubber, again!

 The rubber planters of Kerala are breathing a huge sigh of relief. After 7  years of misery the rubber price has gone up to Rs.165 per kilogram. During these years the price has gone so down, out of disappointment arising out of the inability to sustain the plantations many planters have cleared their plantations and sold the trees to timber traders and as firewood. The new surge in price is giving hope to the survivors. 

The big question that is playing on every planters mind is quite obvious, is this boom sustainable? The pandemic effect is certainly playing its part, delay in the shipment of the imported rubber, rise in shipment rates, non-availability of the shipment containers etc. has forced the local manufacturers to go back to the domestic rubber suppliers. Above all, the international rate for the rubber has gone up, at present the going rate at the Bangkok Market is Rs.186.90 per kilogram. 

The government decision to place tyre into restricted category list of import has helped the local suppliers as tyre manufacturers are the premium customers of the planters and they had a free run to import cheap raw rubber from the south east Asia all these years. Successive extreme climatic conditions, the attack of fungus and its fast spread has destroyed many a crop around the world which had a negative impact on the availability of rubber in the world market. 

With everything said, the experienced planters are limiting their sales keeping an eye on the international rubber price, knowing very well from their experience when the world market price is riding 15 to 20% above the local price they expect the local price to go above the global price within   a short time. 

Let us hope for the best for our planters as their surplus in the good years have flowed into tourism and have played its part in the infrastructure and destination development of Kerala.