The five days of Diwali are celebrated in many different ways across India. On the fourth day, some sections of the Hindu society follow the tradition of Annakut.
Also known as Govardhan Puja in some parts of India, Annakut is the first day of the New Year for the Gujarati community.
"Anna" means food and "kut" means mountain - Annakut is literally a mountain of food offered to the deities as gratitude for the new harvest. Thousands of vegetarian dishes cooked from scratch by the volunteers are then distributed amongst people present at the event.
"With the Annakut display at Neasden Temple in London gaining a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records for 1,247 - the highest number of vegetarian dishes displayed to mark the new year." says Praful Jethwa, a volunteer with one of the Hindu temples in Sydney.
Thousands of vegetarian dishes are cooked by community members and working professionals volunteering their time, effort and other resources over seven to eight weeks.
'Truth from under a tree'
The theme for this year’s Annakut decorations was “Truth from under a tree” to mark the bicentenary celebrations of holy scriptures.
A 16-metre wide and two-metre tall stage with a tree made out of paper and fabric materials at the centre was prepared to offer and display more than 1,500 dishes cooked by the volunteers.
Volunteering home cooks baked around 200 cakes and decorated them to look like the holy book with an icing that displayed the scriptures in six Indian languages – Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil, Malayalam and Marathi.
The centrepiece was:
Source: Supplied
- 1.5 m x 1.2 m
- 350 kilograms
- It was constructed from 64 cakes, each of which consists of eight layers, with each layer being 10 centimetres thick
Source: SBS Gujarati
Mira says they also have to observe the strict principles of Shuddhi.
"We take a shower and clean the kitchen before we start cooking. If one needs to use the toilet or change the diaper for a baby we would take a shower again before we resume cooking for Annakut as it is an offering to God.
"Cooking for this year's Annkut in Sydney took place in nearly 70 homes," says Praful.
"About 550 volunteers came together for a year-long exercise of planning, design, cooking, decorations and stage setup for more than 1,500 vegetarian dishes cooked and artistically displayed on the new year's day (Monday 28th October 2019)."
In addition to dishes from various cuisines across India, there are also Italian, Mexican and Chinese vegetarian dishes made by Gujarati volunteers.
Source: SBS Gujarati
Speaking about what motivates her to volunteer Mira told SBS Gujarati "My son is five and my daughter is eight years old so they get involved too, they get excited and when you say you are volunteering for the community they want to be a part of it too. It builds the understanding of volunteerism in them.”
This year the event was held at the Grand Pavillion at Rose Hill Racecourse in western Sydney.
Five days of Diwali
Dhan teras, a day dedicated to worship the Goddess Lakshmi for good fortune and prosperity.
Naraka Chaturdashi, marks the day Lord Krishna killed demon Narakasura and rescued 16,000 captive princesses.
Diwali is the day Lord Ram returned to his Kingdom after spending 14 years in exile and the city was lit up with lamps to welcome him.
Annakut (Govardhan Puja) marks the beginning of the New year for the Gujarati community
Bhai bij is the day dedicated to siblings, traditionally brothers visit their sister's home.
