The famous ‘Panchamirtham’ of Palani temple gets GI tag

The famous Panchamritham, an offering of the Palani Dandayuthaswamy temple, has been granted the Geographical Identity (GI) tag. This is the first time a temple ‘prasadam’ from Tamil Nadu has been conferred with the GI tag. The unique panchamirtham of Palani temple is prepared using 5 natural substances — banana, jaggery, cow ghee, forest honey and cardamom. The panchamirtham is an ‘abhishega prasadam’ (food that is a religious offering), which is served in a semi-solid state. It is sweet in taste and one of the main offerings for Lord Dhandayuthapani Swamy, the presiding deity of Arulmigu Dhandayuthapani Swamy Temple, situated on Palani Hills. The quality of the Panchamritham is being monitored by the Central Research Institute of Food Technology in Mysore. It is also noteworthy that Palani temple is one of the six Kartikeya temples in Tamil Nadu that have special associations with the life of Lord Subramanya or Karthikeya.