๐บ The Mother Who Saved Me
a Bowl of Sundal
A little bowl of prasadam, a lifetime of love, and the Mother who nourished me across oceans.
โค๏ธ Stories of Devotion
Some relationships begin with an introduction.
Others begin with a feeling that you have finally found someone
you have known all your life.
I was in my twenties when I first met Sri Annapoorneshwari.
I had moved away from my parents' home to Coimbatore to begin my professional life.
I had rented a place closer to my consultation office and was slowly
getting acquainted with my new neighborhood.
One morning, I stepped out for a leisurely walk.
Perhaps it was a weekend; I no longer remember.
But I remember having enough time to wander and explore.
As I walked, my eyes fell upon a temple bearing a familiar name:
Sri Sringeri Mutt Sri Annapoorneshwari Temple.
I had always felt drawn to the teachings of Sringeri Mutt, although I had visited
the Sri Sharadamba temple in Sringeri only once.
Finding that familiar name in a city away from my native place stirred my curiosity.
I approached the temple, then hesitated at the entrance.
I hadn't bathed yet that morning. Having grown up with the custom of bathing
before visiting a temple, I would ordinarily have returned home first.
But something about that morning was different.
I felt drawn inside with an insistence I couldn't quite explain.
I removed my shoes near the gate and entered, wondering who this Goddess Annapoorneshwari was.
And then I saw HER.
I don't remember walking up to the sanctum.
I don't remember what else was happening around me.
I remember only standing before the most beautiful, smiling face I had ever seen.
I stood there mesmerized.
I don't know how long I remained in that spot, unable to move, unable to take my eyes off HER.
It was love at first sight.
And somehow, in my twenties, standing in a temple I had stumbled upon during a morning walk,
I felt as though I had just met my best friend for life.
Someone with whom I could share everything.
Someone who would understand even the things I could not put into words.
โI thought I had arrived too late to see HER.
Instead, I discovered that SHE had been waiting for me"
The Mother Who Had Been Feeding Me All Along
There is a little detail about this encounter that makes me smile even today.
Growing up, one of my favorite restaurants in Coimbatore had been
Sri Annapoorna Gowrishankar.
I had eaten there more times than I could possibly count.
Yet never once had I paused to think about the name Annapoorna.
And now, here I was, standing before the Goddess of nourishment herself,
completely captivated.
Sometimes I wonder whether SHE had been nourishing me all along,
patiently waiting for me to recognize HER.
Perhaps I had been meeting HER at the dining table long before
I found HER in the temple.
That morning, I finally found HER.
And from then until the day I left India, I don't remember missing
a single day at HER temple.
Our Little Conversations
Photo by Stirred By Spice
Every day, I would visit HER.
Some evenings, I had all the time in the world. I would sit before HER
and begin our silent conversations.
I told HER everything.
My hopes, my worries, my little triumphs, the things that troubled me,
and the things that brought me joy.
Some days our conversations seemed endless.
On others, work demanded my attention, and I would hurry in and out.
But those moments with HER were what gave me the wind beneath my wings.
On Fridays, I would bring jasmine flowers and lotus blossoms to offer during puja.
And during deeparadhana, when the priest waved the sacred flame before HER, I had a little habit.
I would silently ask, "Amma, if you are listening to my prayers, show me a sign."
And sometimes, as though in answer, a lotus or a few jasmine flowers that the priest had placed
upon HER shoulder or lap would fall.
To me, those moments felt like HER playful responses.
I would leave smiling, feeling heard.
I knew the love I felt for HER was immense.
Sometimes, especially in those early days, I wondered whether
what I was experiencing could possibly be real.
And then came an encounter I have never forgotten.
๐บ
The Girl in the Half Saree
One day, I was at the temple, offering my namaskaram before HER.
As I bowed my head to the floor and began to rise, I noticed a pair of feet standing beside me.
I looked up.
A pretty young girl, perhaps in her teens, stood there wearing a traditional half saree.
She was smiling down at me.
Before I could understand why she was standing there, she asked me a question.
"Is there something that is weighing heavily in you?"
I was stunned.
Here was a complete stranger, a young girl at that, asking me something so deeply personal.
I looked at her, confused.
"No," I replied.
After all, I wasn't about to share my life story with a stranger in the temple!
She didn't press me for an answer.
She simply smiled.
It was the gentlest, kindest smile, one that seemed to say without words, I am here for you.
And then she walked away.
I was still trying to make sense of the encounter.
Who was she?
Why had she approached me?
Why had she asked that particular question?
When I finally gathered myself and went looking for her, I couldn't find her anywhere.
I remembered seeing her walk in the direction of the path around the sanctum,
but she was nowhere to be seen.
To this day, remembering that encounter gives me goosebumps.
In my heart, I have always felt that Amma had come to me that day in the form of that young girl.
I cannot explain it.
I can only tell you what happened, and what that moment has meant to me ever since.
From then on, my bond with Annapoorneshwari grew even deeper.
SHE was my Mother, my confidante, my companion, and my dearest friend.
๐บ
When Bhakti Draped the Goddess
Navaratri was an especially beautiful time at the temple.
In Coimbatore, the air would begin to turn a little cooler around that season.
Nothing compared to the autumn chill we experience here in America, of course,
but enough to feel a gentle change.
The temple priest was deeply devoted to Annapoorneshwari.
During Navaratri, he would dress HER in beautiful Kanchipuram silk sarees,
sometimes in warm sweaters or lovely lehenga cholis.
And how beautiful SHE looked!
There was something about the way he dressed HER that made the whole sanctum glow.
Her face seemed radiant,
HER eyes filled with kindness,
HER smile almost impossible to look away from.
I loved watching the care he took with every little detail.
Occasionally, the priest would travel to his hometown of Sringeri for a week,
and an assistant priest would take over the temple duties.
I could always tell.
Amma would still be dressed in silk, still adorned with flowers and jewelry,
but somehow SHE looked disheveled to my eyes.
Like a stubborn little girl who had been made to wear an outfit SHE didn't particularly like!
I would smile to myself.
When the regular priest returned, I would gently tease him.
"Amma missed you very much while you were away. We could tell!"
He would smile shyly and nod his head.
I think he understood exactly what I meant.
Bhakti has a way of beautifully draping itself around Devi, and it is not necessarily
the silk that makes HER beautiful.
That priest had such devotion in his heart.
He cared for HER as though SHE were his own child.
And I could see that love reflected in the way he served HER.
I felt comfortable chatting with him, sometimes teasing him,
sometimes sharing little observations about Amma.
There is something about people who carry bhakti in their souls.
You recognize something familiar in one another, and a bond forms
that words cannot quite explain.
๐บ
The Evening SHE Saved Me a Bowl of Sundal
Of all my memories of Annapoorneshwari, there is one that returns to me
with particular tenderness during Navaratri.
One evening, work kept me at my consultation office longer than expected.
I knew I had missed the evening deeparadhana at the temple.
I felt terribly disappointed.
Those few moments before HER were such an important part of my day,
and I hated missing them.
By the time I finished work and began driving home, it was already late.
As I approached the temple, I noticed something unusual.
The doors were still open.
At that hour, the temple would ordinarily have been closed.
I could hardly believe my eyes.
I parked my car and hurried inside, delighted that I might still
get to see HER before going home.
The priest was preparing to close the doors of the sanctum.
When he saw me, his face broke into a huge smile.
"There you are!" he exclaimed.
And then he said something I have carried in my heart all these years.
He told me that he had been trying to finish his duties and close the temple,
but one thing after another had kept delaying him.
Every time he thought he was ready to leave, he remembered another little task that needed doing.
And now, seeing me standing there, he laughed.
He said it was as though Amma had been making him wait because
one of HER regular devotees had not yet arrived.
Then he handed me something.
The last bowl of sundal from the evening puja, nestled in a little palm-leaf cup.
He had saved it for me.
Even now, writing those words brings tears to my eyes.
I had arrived thinking I had missed my chance to see HER.
Instead, there was the priest, the temple still open, and a little bowl of prasadam waiting for me.
I told him how surprised and grateful I was to find the temple open so late.
And in my heart, I felt an overwhelming tenderness.
Only a mother, I thought, or the dearest of friends, would remember to save you
something to eat
because you had been away working and might not have eaten yet.
It was such a small thing.
A little bowl of sundal.
Yet it held more love for me than I could possibly describe.
I stood before HER that evening, looking at HER to my heart's content.
And there SHE was, smiling as always.
That familiar, knowing smile.
I had gone to the temple hoping for just a glimpse of HER.
I left feeling as though I had been welcomed home.
๐บโค๏ธ
A Temple That Became My Family
Over time, the temple became much more than a place I visited for prayer.
It became my home.
There was an ashram attached to the temple where young boys were
studying and training for their future priestly duties.
Many evenings, I would sit with them and join in reciting
the little shlokas I had learned.
Several of those children were also my dental patients.
I had been blessed with an education and a profession through which I could care for others.
And here, in a place where I had received so much love so freely,
it felt only natural to share what I had been given.
I cared for those children without expecting anything in return.
It never felt like a financial transaction or even something particularly worthy of mention.
It was simply my little way of offering seva, of sharing the gift
of my education with Amma's children.
I had received HER love so freely.
How could I not share what SHE had given me?
And what joy there was in being able to do so!
The priest, those children, our shared prayers, and the familiar rhythm
of my daily visits became a family of sorts.
It was a place where I belonged.
A place where I could arrive tired from work, sit quietly before Amma,
and feel restored.
I never had to explain myself there.
I could simply be.
๐บโค๏ธ
Finding HER Again, Across an Ocean
And then came the time for me to leave India and begin
a new chapter of my life in America.
Before leaving, I went to the temple to seek Amma's blessings.
I was leaving behind a city, a temple, and a relationship that had become
such an inseparable part of my daily life.
The priest blessed me with words I have never forgotten.
"Amma will make sure you have no scarcity of anything.
SHE will nourish your body and soul."
I carried those words with me across the ocean.
At the time, I could not possibly have known all that life had in store for me.
The years that followed brought many changes, some of them deeply painful.
There were emotional upheavals, disappointments, and seasons of life
that tested me in ways I had never imagined.
Yet, through it all, I have often thought about that priest's blessing.
My life was not without hardship.
But I never felt that Amma had abandoned me.
Even in the most difficult seasons, I felt that SHE continued to nourish my body and soul.
And not only mine.
I have always believed that SHE held my children and me in the palm of HER hands.
There is something extraordinarily beautiful about a blessing
spoken with such sincerity and faith.
The priest could not have known what lay ahead of me.
Neither could I.
But his words became something I returned to, again and again,
as the years unfolded.
And with every passing year, my gratitude for that blessing has only deepened.
Still, there was one thing I missed terribly.
HER temple.
Those daily visits.
Our silent conversations.
The comfort of sitting before HER beautiful, smiling face.
There were other temples here in America, of course.
But I couldn't find that same feeling of presence, that unmistakable energy that had drawn me
into Annapoorneshwari's temple all those years ago.
I could pray anywhere.
But I missed the feeling of being home.
And for a long time, that particular longing remained.
Until November 2024.
That was when I found Maa Kali's temple here in America.
And something in me recognized HER.
Not in the same gentle form of Annapoorneshwari I had known in my twenties,
but in the fierce, powerful, intensely loving form of Maa Kali.
To me, the energy was unmistakably familiar.
It felt as though my beloved Annapoorneshwari had met me again,
this time in a form that spoke to the stage of life I was living.
The Mother who had once nourished my young, hopeful heart
now appeared to me
as the fierce Mother whose courage and protection I needed.
Different form.
The same love.
And after decades of missing that feeling,
I was home again.
Safe in HER arms.
๐บโค๏ธ
The Mother Who Never Stopped Nourishing Me
This Navaratri, as I prepared sweet corn sundal for my first day's naivedyam,
I found myself thinking about Annapoorneshwari.
About the temple I discovered on an ordinary morning walk.
About the young girl in the half saree.
About the flowers that fell during deeparadhana.
About the priest who dressed HER with such love.
And most of all, about that little palm-leaf bowl of sundal
waiting for me after a long day at work.
I had thought I was simply making a small offering to Devi this Navaratri.
Instead, a memory returned, reminding me of all the ways
I have felt nourished by HER throughout my life.
From a favorite restaurant whose name I once never thought to question,
to the prasadam of a temple in Coimbatore,
to the weekend offerings I now receive at Maa Kali's temple here in America,
food has remained a quiet thread running through my relationship with the Divine Mother.
And perhaps that is why the name Annapoorneshwari means so much to me.
SHE is the Mother who nourishes.
Not only the body, but the heart that longs for belonging,
the spirit that grows weary,
and the soul that sometimes needs reminding that it has not been forgotten.
I met HER in my twenties.
I have loved HER ever since.
And today, after all these years, I am still discovering
how close SHE has always been.
Sometimes, all it takes is a little bowl of sundal to remember.
๐บโค๏ธ
๐บ A Quiet Reflection
Sometimes, the deepest nourishment we receive
has nothing to do with food.
It comes from being remembered, welcomed, and loved
without having to ask.
A little bowl of sundal taught me something I have carried through the years:
love often reveals itself in the smallest gestures.
Have you ever experienced a moment so simple, yet so full of love,
that it stayed with you for a lifetime?
Perhaps what nourishes our souls most deeply is not always what we are given,
but the love with which it is offered.
โค๏ธ
๐ฃ Walk a Little Further
Food and devotion have always belonged together in my kitchen.
That little bowl of sundal from Amma's temple has stayed in my heart for decades.
This Navaratri, preparing sweet corn sundal as naivedyam brought the memory back to me.
If you would like to explore more of the traditions, temple offerings, and festive foods that carry such memories,
I invite you to wander through my Temple & Prasadam Collection.
Explore the Temple & Prasadam Collection โ
๐ฅฃ
โค๏ธ A Few More Stories to Savor
๐ Temple & Prasadam Collection
๐ช Part of Temple Prasadam Collection
A growing library of sacred offerings prepared for Hindu temples, festivals,
and home worship throughout the year.
๐ผ Krishna Janmashtami Collection
๐ Ganesh Chaturthi Collection
๐ช Navaratri Collection
๐ฅ Deepavali Collection
๐พ Pongal Collection
๐บ Varalakshmi Vratham Collection
๐ฟ Ugadi Collection
๐ Meet the Heart Behind the Spice
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