Annadanam
Your compassionate donation can provide nourishing meals to millions facing hunger, igniting hope and restoring dignity one plate at a time.
Donation towards AnnadanaSeva is exempt from income tax under section 80G.
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 10-mile radius of any ISKCON temple should go hungry. Today, the program includes free food restaurants, mobile kitchens, 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, which were distributed to the needy and underprivileged.
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.
gāvāṁ kuṇḍaṁ yānam kuryāt
go-grāsaṁ go-pradakṣiṇam
goṣu nityaṁ prasannāsu
gopālaḥ api prasīdati
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,
Annād bhavanti bhūtāni
parjanyād anna-sambhavaḥ
yajñād bhavati parjanyo
yajñaḥ karma-samudbhavaḥ
“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.”
Gaja-turaga-sahasraṁ go-kulaṁ koṭi-dānam
Kanaka-rajata-pātraṁ medinī-sāgarāntām
Upayuga-śata-dānaṁ koṭi-kanyā-pradānam
Na hi na hi bahu-dānaṁ anna-dānaṁ samaṁ na
“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.”