Vijayawada: The three-day Shakambari festival at the Sri Kanaka Durga temple on Indrakeeladri began on a grand note drawing thousands of devotees. While the temple is beautifully adorned with tonnes of fresh vegetables, it is the Kadambam Prasadam that has become the biggest attraction for devotees visiting the temple.Prepared exclusively during the Shakambari festival, Kadambam Prasadam is a special offering made once a year during Ashada Masam. The dish, which resembles sambar rice, is made from a rich blend of rice, lentils, seasonal vegetables, pumpkin, cashew nuts, and premium cow ghee.Temple priest LD Prasad explained, “Shakambari Ammavaru is fond of vegetables. That is why the temple is decorated with various vegetables, and the prasadam offered is also full of vegetable goodness. Especially, the use of pumpkin and ghee gives it a divine taste.”Typically, devotees line up for pulihora and laddu prasadams after darshan, but during this festival, Kadambam takes centre stage, with many devotees queuing exclusively for it. On the first day alone, temple authorities distributed nearly one tonne of Kadambam prasadam.Devotees from across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are thronging the temple, and many are carrying boxes of Kadambam back home as a sacred and delicious memory of the goddess. “We came here for the past 10 years. The taste of this prasad cannot be replicated at home, even with the same ingredients,” said K. Shruthi, a devotee from Khammam.Temple executive officer Seena Nayak assured that the prasadam is prepared in hygienic conditions and distributed with great care. He added that efforts are being made to provide the prasadam to as many devotees as possible during the three-day festival. “Satisfaction of devotees is our priority. We are taking measures to provide Kadambam prasadam free of cost to devotees,” EO Nayak said.
