|| Tales from Indian Mythology – 1 ||
Five thousand years ago, the battle of Mahabharata was fought between the two royal bloodlines, the Kauravas and the Pandavas.
All the kings and kingdoms in the Indian subcontinent had chosen to align themselves on one of the sides. All except a few handful. One of the most important of those neutral states is the kingdom of Udupi.
The King of Udupi reaches the battleground on the invitation of Krishna. He looks at the magnitude of the fight and chooses to refrain from bloodshed of his people.
He requests Krishna, “The warriors from both sides will need nutrition. We will cater to their needs so that no warrior may go hungry.”
Thus the king of Udupi and his people cooked food for the five million warriors who fought in the war which lasted for 18 days!
What is even more interesting is that no grain of food was wasted even a single day.
In a battle, thousands of warriors die each day and that much less food needs to cooked each day to prevent unnecessary wastage.
After a few days, people noticed this efficient food planning and were impressed with the king and his people.
But how was it possible to predict how many warriors will perish the next day and thus calculate the exact amount?
Someone asked the king this, and he revealed the secret thus.
“Everyday at night I go into Lord Krishna’s tent.
Krishna likes to eat boiled peanuts so I peel them and leave them in a bowl. After he finishes, I count how many peanuts are still remaining in the bowl. If there are 50 peanuts, I know that I will have to cook for 50,000 warriors tomorrow.”
This story is told as the reason behind the palatable Udupi cuisine and why the people of Udupi are seasoned caterers even today.
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