Madi Oota is a special food prepared and consumed by the devotees of Guru Raghavendra Swamy. The special food is prepared traditionally using charcoal or the firewood as prescribed in religious books.
Some devotees mix the mritika (sacred soil take from the top of Brindavana in Mantralayam) with soil covering the Tulsi plants grown in front of their homes and pray to it daily. The soil is also used as a tilak on their forehead.
Branches of Guru Raghavendra Swamy mutt serve as an abode for devotees of the mutt who follow rigorous religious practices and have their food in Madi, which is cooked on firewood or charcoal using water drawn from open wells or bore wells. Garlic and onions are not used in the food prepared.
In the mutts of Guru Raghavendra in India and all around the world, the food is served after offering it as naivedya to the mrithika brindavana – replica of the moola or main Brindavana in Mantralayam.