Many people may not know about the food I’m going to tell you. People from Tirunelveli or Tuticorin, Tamilnadu, India may aware. Once a year, a ceremony is held in the village called Megnanapuram. The festival is celebrated for temple renown and Asanam. On that asana, all the people of the church would gather, cut the vegetables and cook with a very large vessel or cauldron.


Anyone can go and get as much food as they want. Every house in this village must be having the hanging tiffin carrier to get the Asanam food during the festival day. 

In some small temples, they follow meals at the same table concept like marriages. Asana food is mostly “box rice”.


Are you asking what is mean box rice?

They cook tons of samba rice and carry it in a palm leaves packing box from the kitchen to the seating area. Teenagers will stand in line. The box changes one by one and arrives at the place where the rice is delivered.

Palm leaves box and the cooked samba rice mix together and give a very good flavor. "Oh my god",  What a smell!!! The reason is that they use a palm leaves box for everything.

We should talk about the sambar. There are no words to describe that taste. Even more so, many will offer the goat to the temple. Look at that sambar being accompanied by goat meat. You may ask what is sambar made of meat! If you give it one try, you will definitely reach this temple for the festival even if you are out of the world. That's the taste of sambar. In most temples, the Asanam festival is celebrated only in the month of May. So that many will have a holiday during this month,


To eat this meal, we should follow a pattern.

Take the banana leaf and put it on a plate that will make a nice bowl. (Better to eat it on the lid of the hanging tiffin box). Put the cooked samba rice mixed with the flavor of the palm leaves, pour the sambar like a pool and start eating. You will accept that there is no better delicious food in the world than this.

Do you know what is more special than this? Just heat the sambar until it reduced to half and take next day with the samba rice porridge !!!! Wow! This is where our mind will tell us to do have marriage alliance in this town.

Don't think I'm over-buildup. Really this "asana soru" is one of the food that you must taste once in a lifetime. I have never eaten such a flavourful meal before. The reason is the smell of that palm leave box. Even if you take water in a palm leave the flavor will be in different level.

Megnanapuram, the nearest town to Sathankulam, is famous for its asana food. In 1868 itself, a 192-foot-tall tower was built. This temple is the place where the Asana festival is celebrated on the last Thursday of January every year. More than one lakh villagers and relatives of the villagers are attending the festival.

This is one of the highlights of Thoothukudi district. If you ask me briyani or asana food, my vote is for Asana rice. Its taste like that.

Try this meal at least once in your life friends!!!