Akshayapatra - Unlimited Food for Education

November 19, 2025 

                                               The term Akshayapatra is dear to me. I know it comes from the Hindu mythology. I think it was Surya Bhagwan's gift to Yudhishthira, so that the Pandavas, during their vanavasa, were able to take care of any number of guests at any time, with a condition that once Draupadi had eaten the vessel would go empty till the next day. It is an indicator of Divine benevolence and abundance for all to be shared, especially for the guests, who, according to Indian tradition, are God. 

When I held the office of the administrator of Rajagiri College, I named our staff mess as Akshayapatra  and our student mess as 'Annapoorna' (way back in 1999). The former was thus christened because of the demand for food at any time on account of the arrival of guests, and the mess used to serve without any complaint under the able guidance of Joseph chettan and the cook, Mr Thomas (both of whom are no more). Annapoorna myth reads thus: Lord Shiva in his meditative mood declared that the world, including food was Maya (illusion).  Food is sacred, not an illusion - Parvati countered, but Shiva would not accept. Then Parvati disappeared from the world, immediately offsetting famine, collapse of agriculture, lack of food, and stop of all sorts of devotions and rituals. Shiva himself had to go hungry. In compassion, Parvati reappears in Kashi as 'annapoorna devi' seated with a golden ladle and a pot ever full of food. Shiva himself come abegging food, and is compassionately fed by Shakti, proving her point that Shiva (spirit) cannot be separated from Shakti (matter). She declared: 'Where there is food, there is God; I sustain the world. Let no one go hungry'. 

I had no clue about the story, but Annapoorna restaurant was becoming a well-established chain in the South of India around that time. Besides, the term is easily understood as the combination of 'anna' and 'poorna' - food and fullness; as a place where full food is available, or food as making the eater whole. 

At present, I try to search the web for Akshayapatra, and all the results I receive in the first list are about the NGO Akshayapatra. 

AKSHAYAPATRA – Unlimited Food for Education

It is field learning time at SHDC!

Our BBAs visit Hindustan Times Press; B. Com team visits ‘Akshayapatra’ and the BCAs visit ‘112’ of UP Police. Almost all such one-day learning trips are towards the capital Lucknow, East and South. Our science stream, now having a minority status in the college, also has decided for a lab visit to CSIR, Lucknow.  We the senior team should rethink about places and possibilities of field-learning beyond Lucknow.

However no quarrel with Lucknow. Each visit is a learning experience. Accompanying the Commerce team to Akshayapatra was both revealing, inspiring and challenging.

Akshayapatra draws inspiration from the ISKCON founder Sri Bhaktiveda Swami Prabhupada, who saw through his window children fighting with dogs for food to be secured from a waste bin.  He dreamt of no student being deprived of education on account of hunger, as the mission statement of Akshayapatra goes: ‘No child in India shall be deprived of education because of hunger’. That led to the first Akshyapatra kitchen in Bangalore in 2000. While they aim at 30 lakh children to be reached by the silver jubilee year 2025, it is almost around or above 25 lakhs now, with 78 kitchens serving different parts of the country.

For a student of business administration, it is the 5S of KAZEN (there is always a better way of solving a problem – improvement - Seiri – Sort; Seiton – Set things in order; Seiso – Shine (cleanliness); Seiketsu – Standardise; Shitsuke – Sustain) in operation. The Akshayapatra, Lucknow, catering to almost 1 lakh children daily through 1478 schools, shows that irrespective of the spread, the magnitude of the task, cleanliness, orderliness and timeliness are possible.  

It is a beautiful blend of the public and private, religious and secular. Except in the Hare Krishina salutation, and the invocation of God’s blessings on all the food prepared by offering the same at the small temple within the structure, religiosity is hardly visible – though its purpose of a spirituality that transforms the world is served. Nor are any individual organisational leader visible.  So the good work is carried out without an effort to promote ego. But recognitions have come galore from within the nation and beyond.

The organisation has the support of the state government midday meal scheme, PM Poshan Nidhi of the central government, and a main source of support as ‘ CATERPILLAR’, a US-based foundation.  Our team was received well by the team leader, Mr Dushyant, and we were split into groups of 20, each group accompanied by a guide. No photographs allowed inside. Our hands are sanitised, and we are asked to touch nothing. Our feet, with our shoes are covered with plastic bags, neatly fitted on to our feet by an automated dispenser.  About 10 tonnes of rice is being cooked everyday in 10 huge cauldrons; similarly, there are 3 other huge cauldrons for vegetables. In another section, there is a huge chappathi making system which kneads the flour, rolls, cuts to the adequate size, then spreads, and cooks at the furnace that maintains about 330⁰ centigrade heat to get a chappatti fully cooked. The menu changes. Some days, they have sweet dishes too.

The whole process gets over by around 6 am. Then, the focus is on packing, delivery, cleanliness and report. As we arrive past 9 am, the kitchen is spruced up for the next day’s work, which begins around midnight every day.

There is a dining area for the staff; and today we are served food there. A fabulous tehari, accompanied by ‘kheer’. A picture is taken at the entrance. We salute the great institution with almost 300+ employees in the Lucknow kitchen alone. And salutations to the great inspiration behind.