They come from all corners of India, devoted pilgrims on their way to Shirdi,a town where a revered Indian guru Sai Baba lived. Legend has it he was a man who performed miracles to help the poor almost 100 years after his death. Shirdi boasts of a modern-day miracle
"I am literally in the middle of the world's largest solar cooking system. These 73 solar dishes capture energy from the sun and use it to cook food for 100,000 pilgrims who visit this temple daily."
The panels raise the temperature of water to up to 650 degree Celsius, generating steam which is used to cook food. It's the brainchild of Deepak and Shirin Gadhia who worked on the design in Germany before bringing the technology back home.
"We soon realize what India needed was appropriate technology, not high technology."
In India's case, that means taking advantage of its geography and climate.
"We are blessed with the sun. India is one of the few countries in the world where there is no word like good morning. Because we take our sun for granted. In the North and West India, we have about 300 to 320 sunny days. And in South India, we have 250 sunny days."
The result is a far cry from a traditional India kitchen that uses gas, kerosene or fire wood.
"It's so much cleaner now.", says the chef who has been cooking at the temple kitchen for 15 years. "I like the solar cookers"
"50 percent of the world population, not only of India, cooks with open fire."
But here, there is no soot, no smoke, no trees cut down for wood, no carbon dioxide emitted by burning fuel. There are financial benefits too. From the housewife who uses a one-pot solar cooker to this , the world's largest system, there is less money spent on cooking oil. In Shirdi, the cookers save hundreds of kilograms of oil everyday. That's a monthly saving of almost 7,000 dollars, eventually, it's down to economics.
Mallika Kapur, Shirdi, Western India.
