Annadanam
Annadanam – Free Food Distribution
ISKCON ’s “Hare Krishna Food for Life” program has served more than 50 crore nutritious vegetarian meals to the disadvantaged throughout India.
In 1974, seeing street children rummaging through garbage for something to eat, ISKCON’s founder A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada was moved to tears and instructed his followers that no one within a ten-mile radius of any Krishna temple should go hungry. Today, the program includes free food restaurants, mobile kitchens, and emergency relief services, and distributes upwards of 400,000 free vegetarian meals per day to needy people in more than 60 countries.
last year ISKCON distributed more than 60 million plates of prasadam meal in India. The above mentioned prasada meals were distributed to the needy and underprivileged.
Donation towards AnnadanaSeva is exempt from income tax under section 80G.
We serve Annaprasadam with this very principle in mind, for among the hungry crowd there may also be the anonymous genuine devotee, saint or even Devata.
Importance of Annadanam
gavamkunduyanamkuryat
gograsamgaupradaksinam
gosunityamprasannasu
gopala pi prasidati
The Sanskrit word annadānam literally means the offering or sharing (dānam) of food (annam). In every ethnic and religious community across the Indian subcontinent, no festival or ceremony is complete without annadānam, or at least with the distribution of prasādam.
Accordingly, the importance of food is stressed in ancient scriptures, including the Vedas, Upanisads, Dharma Sastras, DhammaPāda, etc. Taittiriya Upanishad declares, ‘All life force comes from food.’ (annamvaiprānah) and ‘Let food be produced in plenty’ (annambahukurveet).
In Bhagavad Gita, Śrī Krishna declares,
annadbhavantibhutani
parjanyadanna-sambhavah
yajnadbhavatiparjanyo
yajnah karma-samudbhavah
“All living bodies subsist on food grains, which are produced from rains. Rains are produced by performance of yajna [sacrifice], and yajna is born of prescribed duties.”
GajaturagaSahasramGokulamkotidanam
Kanaka RajathapatramMethinisagarantham
UpayakulavishuttamKotikanyapradanam
NahinahibahudanamAnnadanamsamanam
“Donating 1000 elephants & horses, donating 10 million cows, donating any number of vessels of silver and gold, donating the entire land till sea, offering the entire services of the clan, helping in the marriage of 10 million women, all this is never ever equal to Annadanam, the feeding of hungry and needy.”
COVID-19
As the world faces a pandemic, emergency medical teams, patients, quarantined passengers, relatives of patients, and daily wage laborers are stranded without access to food. At ISKCON, we are putting our best foot forward to ensure that they receive healthy and hygienic meals every day.
Help us reach out to more people by making a contribution
