Mahaprasad is the food offered to Lord Jagannath after being cooked in Vaishnavagni (special fire ritual). It is believed that Goddess Lakshmi herself cooks Mahaprasad in the temple kitchen for the Lord who takes bath at Badrinath, gets dressed at Dwarka, takes food at Jagannath Puri and rests at Rameswaram. Even the Gods long for having a taste of this Mahaprasad.
The Prasad or food offering undergoes several processes or Samskaras before being converted into Mahaprasad. First the rice grains reach the store room of the temple where it is named as “Amunia”. This Amunia is then cooked in the Vaishnavagni where it turns into “Anna”. This Anna is then carried by Supakaras (Temple cooks) to the Sri Mandir sanctum to be offered to the deities. During that time the Supakaras closely wrap their mouth so that no saliva or direct breath will defile the food offerings. During this time the Anna is called as “Chheka”. This Chheka when reaches the sanctum to be offered to the deities is called as “Bhoga”. Then this Bhoga gets transformed into “Naivedya” through a transformational process in a Sri Yantra. This Naivedya takes the form of “Prasad” when the Pujapandas (Temple priests) recite “Patala Nrusimha” Mantra and “Gopala” Mantra to offer it to the deities. Then this Prasad is offered to Goddess Vimala and gets transformed into “Mahaprasad”.
According to Brahma Vaivarta Purana, by eating Mahaprasad one gets rid of all the sins and gets the virtues equal to donating one crore cows. While eating the Mahaprasad, there is no caste discrimination. People irrespective of different castes eat it together. Even the orthodox Brahmins do not hesitate to take it from a person belonging to a lower caste.
The Mahaprasad and other offerings made to the deities are sold for public consumption at “Ananda Bazar”, a market inside the Sri Mandir premises.