Indians and their religious sentiments are something that has been widely written and spoken about. We have varied religious beliefs and traditions associated with each of them. While certain places have the elaborate pujas to appease the Lord, at others people make specific offerings which are the particular Lord's favourite. These beliefs may have transcended from years and years ago but in Kerala, Balamurugan, who is the son of Lord Shiva is a huge fan of Nestle's chocolate Munch! In the Chemmukathu Sree Subramaniya Swami Temple in Alappuzha, Munch chocolates are offered as prasad. There is now a belief that all your wishes will be fulfilled if you present the lord with Munch chocolates.

History of Munch offering tradition

The belief started a few years back when a small boy offered the chocolate to the Lord Murugan. The boy was playing around the temple premises and he rang the temple's bell for fun. The boy got scoldings from his parents too. That night he felt very sick and kept murmuring Lord Murugan's name. The boy and his parents visited the temple next day to pray for his health. At that time the priest asked him to offer something to the Lord. While his parents offered oil and flowers, the boy gave the Munch chocolate. He refused to give anything else. The boy was cured soon and the story spread about the Lord being appeased by the chocolate.

Soon everyone started visiting munch chocolates and whenever their wishes were fulfilled, people came in with boxes of Munch. The name Munch Murugan has come since then. The tradition has been followed for 7-8 years now. And with Indians having a habit to go overboard with their offerings, some even offer the Lord chocolates equivalent to their weight! “Munch is given to devotees as part as prasadam, during different poojas. Nowadays, devotees also perform MunchPara (a big vessel of munch is offered) and Munch Thulabharam (offer chocolate equal to their body weight),” Anoop A Chemmoth, who looks after the temple was quoted to a media report.

Today the temple has devotees from several religions flocking it and offering the chocolate. In fact, Munch and other chocolates are given back to the devotees as prasad and thus the temple has become a favourite among the kids visiting. Children and elderly alike are following the tradition of giving chocolates to please the God. Isn't it delightful?

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 05, 2018 04:57 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).