3 weeks ago
UP Kanwar Camps Serve Onion-Garlic Free Pizza, Momos and More
Every year, many people take part in a special religious trip called the Kanwar Yatra.
During the trip, pilgrims walk long distances and stop at camps to rest and eat.
This year, camps in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, are serving lots of food made without onion or garlic.
That is because many pilgrims avoid those foods while following their special rules.
The camps serve fun foods like pizza, momos, noodles and pasta, along with traditional Indian dishes and sweets.
Machines help make food quickly, rolling out about 16 rotis every minute.
Some camps use steel plates instead of plastic ones to keep the environment clean.
Government officials check the camps to make sure the food is safe and clean, and volunteers work day and night to help the pilgrims.
Kanwar camps in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, are serving devotees onion-garlic-free dishes such as pizza, pasta, momos, shahi paneer and hakka noodles.
The full-day menu, reported by PTI, covers breakfast (poha, jalebi, samosas), lunch (paneer dishes, dal makhani), evening snacks (burgers, manchurian) and dinner (chhole-puri, kheer).
The Kankarkheda Vyapar Sangh camp uses an automatic roti-making machine that produces about 16 rotis per minute and 6,000 to 7,000 rotis daily.
Fasting-friendly 'falahar' meals made from buckwheat (kuttu) and water chestnut (singhara) flour are arranged at the Modipuram camp for fasting kanwariyas.
Many camps are plastic-free, serving food in stainless steel utensils, while UP government district authorities continuously inspect private camps for food quality and hygiene.
- Who
- Hundreds of volunteers and camp organisers serving Kanwar devotees, with the Uttar Pradesh government overseeing inspections of private camps.
- What
- Onion-garlic-free meals, from pizza and momos to paneer dishes and sweets, served at Kanwar camps along the yatra route.
- Where
- Kanwar camps in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, and along the yatra route, including Muzaffarnagar, where meat shops remain shut till August 12.
- When
- During the ongoing Kanwar Yatra in August 2026; the UP government statement was issued on a Friday.
- Why
- To provide safe, hygienic and fasting-appropriate food for devotees on their long religious journey.
Key facts
- Location
- Meerut, Uttar Pradesh
- Event
- Kanwar Yatra
- Menu rule
- All food prepared without onion and garlic
- Roti machine output
- About 16 rotis per minute, 6,000-7,000 per day
- Fasting meals
- 'Falahar' dishes from kuttu (buckwheat) and singhara (water chestnut) flour
- Sustainability
- Plastic-free camps serving food in stainless steel utensils
- Oversight
- UP government district authorities inspecting food quality and hygiene
- Related closure
- Meat shops in Muzaffarnagar along the yatra route shut till August 12
Quotes
Amit Murti
organiser of the ‘Maa Kanwar Seva Camp’
“"Our objective is not merely to provide food, but to make the journey of the Shiv devotees safe, pleasant, and memorable."”
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