Prasada

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages) This article possibly contains original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. (March 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message) This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Prasada" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (March 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Prasāda (Sanskrit pronunciation: [pɽɐsaːdɐ], Sanskrit: प्रसाद), prasad or prasadam is a religious offering in Hinduism. Most often Prasada is vegetarian food especially cooked for devotees after praise and thanksgiving to a god. Mahaprasada (also called bhandarā),^[1] is the consecrated food offered to the deity in a Hindu temple which is then distributed and partaken by all the devotees regardless of any orientation.^[2][3][4]

Prasada is closely linked to the term naivedya, also spelt naivedhya, naibedya or naived(h)yam. The food offered to the deity is called naivedya, while the sacred food sanctified and returned by the deity as a blessing is called prasada.^{[citation needed]}