The blessing now comes with a hygiene audit
For millions of devotees who visit Ayodhya every year, accepting prasad is an act of faith. But faith, it turns out, can coexist with food safety checks. The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra — home to the Ram temple — has just received the 'Ati Vishisht' rating, the highest tier under the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India's BHOG (Blissful Hygienic Offering to God) programme. It scored 103 out of a possible 114 points, placing it firmly at the top of the scale.
Five other Ayodhya shrines — Hanumangarhi, Kanak Bhawan, a Jain temple and Devkali temple among them — also received BHOG certification at the same event, which was attended by FSSAI CEO Rajit Punhani and officials from the Uttar Pradesh Food Safety and Drug Administration.
So what does the BHOG certification actually involve?
It is more rigorous than a one-time inspection. The process has five stages: confirming a valid FSSAI licence, an on-site audit by an authorised inspector, mandatory food safety training for designated supervisors under the FoSTaC programme, an assessment against 47 parameters, and a final review and sign-off by FSSAI before the certificate is issued.
The ratings are tiered. Scoring 100–114 earns the top 'Ati Vishisht' category. A score of 91–99 gets a 'Santoshjanak' (satisfactory) rating. Institutions between 77 and 90 must fix gaps and face a re-audit, while those below 77 have to reapply from scratch.
Once certified, the work does not stop. The certification is valid for two years, during which state and central authorities will carry out periodic inspections. The temple trust itself is required to run internal compliance checks every fortnight using a prescribed checklist.
Why this matters for a food audience in India
Places of worship in India collectively feed an extraordinary number of people every single day — often for free, at enormous scale, with very little of the regulatory scrutiny that applies to commercial kitchens. Langars, temple kitchens, prasad distribution counters — these are some of the country's most active food operations, and yet they have historically sat outside the mainstream conversation about food hygiene.
The BHOG programme, which sits under FSSAI's broader 'Eat Right' initiative, is a quiet but meaningful shift in that thinking. As FSSAI's Punhani put it at the Ayodhya event, 'Prasad is not merely food; it is a symbol of faith and dignity. Ensuring that devotees receive safe and quality prasad is a collective responsibility.'
Trust general secretary Govind Dev Giri framed it simply: 'Cleanliness is akin to divinity.' That is not just a spiritual sentiment — it is, increasingly, a certifiable standard. For anyone who cares about where food comes from and how it reaches people, the idea that temple kitchens are now being audited against 47 hygiene parameters is genuinely worth paying attention to.