Rama at the table

In ancient India, the meal (bhojana) is not divided into starter-main-dessert but unfolds as a single course on a large banana leaf or metal plate (thali). Rice occupies the center, surrounded by small mounds: lentils, vegetables, dairy, sour and sweet condiments. One eats with the right hand, mixing flavors at will. The six tastes (shadrasa) — sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, astringent — must all be present for the meal to be considered complete and balanced according to Ayurveda.

Sacred food above all, ghee perfumes, cooks, and sanctifies. It is poured over steaming rice, fed to the fire of offerings, rubbed on flatbreads. For a prince like Rāma, abundant ghee is a sign of prosperity and ritual purity.