Bhandara and chaupal play big roles in the Braj community, but perhaps the biggest example of food in the community is the famous Chappan Bhog. Chappan means 56, and bhog means offerings. As per Hindu belief, a young Krishna once saw his community preparing for a grand feast to appease Lord Indra. They believed that this would bless them with rains and reap them a good harvest.
However, Krishna believed in Karma and felt that the community should just do their duty without any expectation of returns or worries about consequences. So he dissuaded them from doing the prayer and the feast.
This angered Indra, who decided to flood the region with continuous torrential rain. To save his community, Krishna lifted the Govardhan parvat of Mathura district on one finger for seven days to give shelter to his people. During this time, Krishna, whose mother fed him eight times a day, did not eat at all. So after Indra gave up, and Krishna put down the mountain, his people fed him 56 dishes.
To this day, in gratitude for this act, the people of Mathura Vrindavan offer bhog to Krishna for seven days every year. As per ancient Indian belief, food must be eaten once in each of the eight pahar of the day. Hence, eight dishes are offered to Krishna for seven days, making a total of chhappan bhog. Each house has an idol made of cow dung in their house, to which they offer the bhog. As per their saksham, they also contribute as much as possible to the local temple near their house. And hence, every temple also has their own chhappan bhog contributed by the local community.
Chhapan bhog is offered to Lord Krishna a day after Diwali on Govardhan Pooja. The 56 dishes vary from region to region, but may consist of seven types of cereals, fruits, dry fruits, vegetables, sweets, drinks, namkeen and pickles each. The sequence of dishes also varies from milk-based, to besan-based, to salty and then cardamom.
After seven days of heavy festive food, the next day’s meals consist of a simple khichdi. No wonder, look at the chhappan bhog in its entirety!