The year was 1986, a travelling Jain businessman from India visiting Kuala Lumpur ( Malaysia ) was desperately looking for a vegetarian meal. He found himself at the Temple of Fine Arts Canteen. There, he availed himself of the snacks prepared by the mothers of the dance students to sustain and nourish the children during classes, rehearsals and performances. Happy and grateful that he was able to assuage his hunger according to his beliefs, he spoke of the necessity and oppourtunity of providing vegetarian meals for business travelers who have similar tastes and beliefs. Annalakshmi was born thereafter. The organization for founded and nourished by the Swami Shanthanand Saraswathi, a disciple of Swami Sivananda ( Divine Life Society ) of Rishikesh.
The year was 1986, a travelling Jain businessman from India visiting Kuala Lumpur ( Malaysia ) was desperately looking for a vegetarian meal. He found himself at the Temple of Fine Arts Canteen. There, he availed himself of the snacks prepared by the mothers of the dance students to sustain and nourish the children during classes, rehearsals and performances. Happy and grateful that he was able to assuage his hunger according to his beliefs, he spoke of the necessity and oppourtunity of providing vegetarian meals for business travelers who have similar tastes and beliefs. Annalakshmi was born thereafter. The organization for founded and nourished by the Swami Shanthanand Saraswathi, a disciple of Swami Sivananda ( Divine Life Society ) of Rishikesh.
Annalakshmi is 30 years old in Coimbatore and was inaugurated on 21/9/1989. "The objective of Annalakshmi is to offer fabulous food to its guests. We cook and serve with love and affection. Many of us are volunteers here. The income generated is used in support of the charitable activities of Shivanjali Trust, founded by Swamiji. His Holiness used to tell us that when one is doing ' service ' in Annalakshmi , serve as though you are serving God. The volunteers should think that Annalakshmi herself does the cooking. Finally when the guests eat, it is Annalakshmi herself eating. If we think of it this way, our service will be take us forward and we will be able to serve more," stated Prabhu over a chat at Annalakshmi.
Walnut wood furniture from Kashmir, works of art personally chosen by Swamiji, cutlery and utensils which are part of the heritage surround the lovely bronze icon of Annalakshmi. Classical music wafts through the air and it is pleasant to the ears. "Swamiji wanted to promote Indian art, culture and tradition from the very beginning. Therefore the best were got from good artisans and brought to Coimbatore. We moved to this facility a few years ago and wanted a few more four seaters for the restaurant. The abundance of floor space gave us the thought. Therefore we went back to the manufacturer and were taken aback to learn that it was no longer possible to match this quality. He called our existing furniture as ' Gold ' and requested us to preserve it well. Our quest made us understand that Annalakshmi is the home to the largest collection of walnut wood dining tables in this part of the country. Look at this carving under the glass. See the traveler and the tree. Can you find anything similar. Swamiji was a great visionary and he had brought the Singapore based aircraft engineer Loganathan to do the interiors for this restaurant 30 years ago. Loganathan came back a few years back in order to help us redo the restaurant in the new premises," chuckled Dwarak with his child like enthusiasm.
Well, Swami Shanthanand came to Coimbatore because of his steadfast followers Padma Mami and Subramaniam Mama in the year 1972. The two of them were very particular that they were always under his guidance. Swamiji had assured them that he would follow them to Coimbatore and he fulfilled his words. He began by holding prayers, bhajans and satsanghs at Lakshmi Sadhanam in Race Course. Padma Mami and Subramaniam Mama were the tenants of this old house which belonged to their relatives. The story of Lakshmi Sadhanam is quite interesting. It was the residence of leading criminal lawyer N.V.Krishnaswamy Iyer. His spouse Padmavathi Ammal was known to be a gracious hostess. She would always want to cook and feed people. One need not have to know her very well in order to avail her hospitality. She was fondly known as ' Chithi ' and Swami Shanthanand joined the others by addressing her so. The Swamiji had a room for himself in this home for years. This good vibration coupled with the satsangs of Swamiji had created the setting for beginning the fine dine ' Annalakshmi ' at Race Course in Coimbatore.
A building had been constructed by N.K.Vasudevan and N.K.Chandrashekharan in the eighties of the last century. Swamiji decided that Annalakshmi will come to this building in Coimbatore and it happened. The fine dine has been serving quality food and using the income in aid of the society for the past 30 years.
"Pure food with good ingredients with no compromise on quality, backed by joyful service has been our motto. Naivedyam is offered to Goddess Annalakshmi three times a day and served to the guests. Our guests have divine food. To start with, we wanted to give a pure southern meal and also one north south combination too. The southern one was known as Cauvery and it used to be priced at Rs.35 and the north south combination was called Godavari ,priced at Rs.50. All the drinks were formatted by the followers of Swamiji. The followers were known as the ' Shiva family ' and we belong to the ' Coimbatore Shiva family '. If not for Swamiji we would not have been in the food industry and we would not have had the good fortune of serving so many people everyday in the company of volunteers. Yes volunteers like Meera have been with us for over 30 years and they have nourished the guests and the society selflessly," added Prabhu.
Several volunteers from different walks of life have served the society through Annalakshmi. Metallurgist Dr.N.K.Kannan, Chemical Engineer R.Viswanathan, Professor Deepa Viswanathan, K.S.Ardhanari who was with the Indian Telephone Industries were among the volunteers who have served at Annalakshmi. Actor Visu had called the restaurant ' a wife away from home ', Several celebrities had visited the facilities of Annalakshmi in Coimbatore, Chennai, Malaysia and Australia. Annalakshmi has a few more outlets in Coimbatore and a bill is never produced in them. The guest pays as per his or her choice. Volunteers have been helping out in those outlets and they are located in Vadavalli and Thudiyalur. Slots are allocated and the menu, recipe and processes are finalized by the volunteers.
The Arts College Road outlet conducts food festivals too. Some of the items have been formatted by the volunteers. "We have had many famous families celebrating their occasions at Annalakshmi. Quite a few of our regulars have the wedding engagement, vazhaikaappu and the naming ceremony of the new born child at our place. The golden wedding anniversary of jeweler P.A.R.Krishnan and his wife Lalitha Bai was celebrated here many years ago. The silver jubilee of jeweler cum hotelier J.Nagendran and his wife Vijayalakshmi was celebrated in our premises about 25 years ago. Eminent jeweler A.N.Srinivasa Guptha and family of Kumbakonam Jewellers, Salem have been our guests. We had been promoting music and cultural events too. The Sitar Maestro Ustad Usman Khan event was taken up by us. Kadri Gopalnath has a gold plated saxophone presented by Swamiji with him," stated Dwarak.
Annalakshmi has been using traditional names for its menu and the juice part is known as Amrutha. Some of them are named as Triveni, Anarkali, Nalaayani and Nurjehan. The hot beverages are known as Jwala. Annalakshmi has been offering true blue comfort food.