The Significance and benefits of Annadhanam

What is Annadanam

The word 'Annadanam' refers to the act of donating food to others. The term "Annadanam" contains two words - 'Annam' meaning food and 'Danam' meaning the act of giving. Annadanam is considered the best of all danams and is hailed as 'Mahadanam.' According to the Hindu beliefs, it is significant to offer annadanam during auspicious days and festivals.

Legends of Annadhanam

There are many legends in Hinduism glorifying Annadanam. Let's see some famous myths related to Annadanam.

Once Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathi quarreled whose function was superior. The Goddess left Kailash, descended to the earth, spent her time in solitude, and stopped performing her function. Chaos ensued due to the withdrawal of Parvathi, and the whole world experienced famine and hunger. Lord Shiva realized his mistake and recognized the importance of Parvath and her functions. Goddess Parvathi took the form Annapurna and went to Varanasi to offer food to the starving people. She even provided 'Bhiksha (food) to Lord Shiva. Goddess Annapurneswari temple at Varanasi is renowned all over the world. Most Hindus worship this Goddess before cooking and eating food. The people pray to her to have access to good food although their lives and pray for good yield in agriculture.

As per Mahabharata, when the Pandavas were staying in the forests for Vanavasa, they had little access to food. To sort this problem, they worshipped Lord Surya and received the Akshyapatra, a divine bowl capable of feeding any number of people.

Different varieties of food would flow from the Akshyapatra from sunrise and sunset every day. The Pandavas used to eat the food from Akshyapatra and donated excess food available to others living in the forest. Knowing this, Duryodhana and Sakuni plotted to trouble the Pandavas by making them bear the brunt of Durvasa, the short-tempered Sage. 

They requested Sage Durvasa to meet the Pandavas in the forest at night and have food with them. The Sage agreed to Duryodhan's request and went to the woods to meet Pandavas along with his vast number of followers. The Sage asked Draupathi to prepare food for him and his disciples and went for a holy dip. 

As it was nighttime, the Pandavas could not use Akshaya Patra to bring items. Draupadi and the Pandavas became restless and sad; at last, they prayed to Lord Krishna. Lord Krishna was moved by their prayers and appeared before them. He asked Draupadi to bring the Akshyapatra and closely examined it and found a tiny grain of puffed rice and a bit of green. The Lord ate them, and subsequently, the stomach of everybody in the world became full, including that of Durvasa. The Sage went to Pandavas and told them that he felt heavy and would not eat. Thus the Pandavas were saved from Sage's anger. When Draupadi thanked Lord Krishna for his help, he said the Punya (good deeds) accumulated from Annadanam saved the day for them.

Several saints like Sage Ramalingam, Shridi Sai Baba, Bhagwan Ramana Maharishi, etc., have advocated the importance of Annadanam.

 

Significance of Annadhanam

There are many kinds of danam like 'bhoodanam' (donation of land), 'godanam' (offering of cows), and 'arthadanam' (donation of money). They are feasible to be done by the rich and cannot be afforded by all but annadanam does not require much money, and anyone with minimal resources too can perform annadanam.

 

 Benefits of providing Annadhanam

• God will bless those who offer Annadanam.
• Annadanam helps burn your past karma.
• It gives you satisfaction.
• The blessings of the person benefiting from your annadanam will add positivity to your life.

 

Annadhanam and Tripura Foundation

Providing food to the poor people had been an important objective of the Tripura foundation right from its inception. Dr.Pillai has stressed the need and importance of eradicating hunger from this world. Therefore, we distribute nutritious food to the children studying at our HoPE centers and abandoned elders.

Poverty and unequal distribution of resources are the reasons behind several staying hungry. So, Tripura Foundation launched the 'Million Meals of Hope' program to serve food to the people who need it most. Through the donations and support of our patrons and sponsors, since July 2013, we have been able to feed over 8 million love-filled meals to hungry people every year.

 

We request you to join us in this noble and great endeavor and do your bit to distribute food to the poor and needy. So please click the below button to join us.