Special food offerings are made on Vaikunta Ekadasi in Pushya masam (mostly in Tamil Margazhi masam (December – January)) in Srirangam Ranganatha Swamy temple. The food offerings for Vaikunta Ekadasi include Selvar Appam and Sambara Dosai.
Selvar Appam is only made in Margazhi month and it is a fairly thick and crispy appam like thattai.
Sambara dosai is another unique offering on Vaikunta Ekadasi and in Margazhi month. This dosa is three times of the size of the regular dosa and is very thick. The thick dosa is flavored with pepper and dried ginger powder.
Srirangam Ranganatha Swamy temple is famous for various unique dishes and food offerings like the first food on a day in the temple is roti with butter – not found in any other South Indian temple. Roti with butter is associated with a muslim princess devotee of Sri Ranganatha Swamy.
Yet another daily morning offering is pasi paruppu or moong dal cooked till dry with ghee.
The Pongal offering during morning puja is the Ven Pongal devoid of any spices. Thick dosa is also offered at this time.
The lunch offering in the temple is famous for 18 padis of rice – 1 padi is 0.75 kg. The rice is offered along with paruppur and satramudhu – milagu rasam and dadhiyodhana. Fifteen different types of vegetables are part of the lunch - with minimum of five types of vegetables of plants, creepers and trees. The vegetables like pumpkin, raw banana, broad beans, and cucumber (vellarikai) are boiled with salt and offered without any spices or chilies. Sweets like akkaravadisal or payasam or thirukannamudu or large adhirasam are part of lunch.
The evening puja food offerings include rice cooked in milk known as ksheerannam, kariyamudhu, thirumaal vada and paniyaram like appam or thenkuzhal.
The night offering include rice with plain dal known as selva samba rice. Goddess is offered Aravanai or thick payasam with boiled keerai or saag. Rangantha Swamy is offered Aravanai with kariyamudhu or poriyal.
The final offering is milk and a sweet dish known as Satti Aravanai – a thick jaggery syrup mixed with cooked rice. Saffron, cardamom, edible camphor and ghree are added to the mixture.