NEW DELHI – It was a sensational charge in a country where food is yet another marker of political, religious and caste divides.

       For centuries, the Tirupati temple in the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh has given laddu, a ball-shaped sweet, to devotees. The temple is the richest Hindu holy site in the world, with revenues each year of hundreds of millions of dollars, and it is spending about US$1 million (S$1.3 million) a month just on ghee to fry the laddu in, according to Mr M.K. Jagadish, an official at a state-owned dairy.

       In September, the state’s newly elected chief minister, a Hindu named N. Chandrababu Naidu, accused his Christian predecessor of allowing the temple’s laddu to be made in ghee, a clarified butter, that was adulterated with other animal fats. A majority of the temple’s devotees are vegetarian; Mr Naidu’s allegation called into question the sanctity of the temple itself.

       The case of the temple sweet shows how India’s food cultures have become increasingly politicised. In a nation where cows are viewed as sacred by most Hindus, many states have banned the slaughter of cows and made the transportation of beef a punishable offence.

       In some, even the cooking of eggs has drawn official condemnation. Restaurants are closely monitored for any mixing of vegetarian and non-vegetarian food. Some states have ordered the owners of food stalls to display their names clearly, so consumers are aware of their religious and caste identity.

       Cultural sensitivities surrounding food are not new in India. The Indian Rebellion of 1857 against the British was ignited by allegations that rifle cartridges, which had to be manually loaded by biting off the end, were greased in beef tallow and pig fat, antagonising both Hindu and Muslim soldiers in the British army.

       But the politicisation of food has become more pervasive with the rise of Hindu nationalism under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Vegetarianism and cow protection are now a staple of the political discourse. Mere accusations of eating or transporting beef – mostly against Muslims – can result in lynchings by cow-protection vigilantes and right-wing organisations.

       By signing up, I accept SPH Media's Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy as amended from time to time.

       In the temple case, Mr Naidu took his accusations to the country’s Supreme Court.

       In September, the court criticised him for making his claims without conclusive lab results on the ghee samples. “You should have at least kept the gods away from politics,” Justice B.R. Gavai said.

       The conception of those gods as vegetarian has no basis in Hinduism’s central scriptures, said Mr Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd, an author of books including Buffalo Nationalism and Why I Am Not A Hindu. Instead, he said, it was manufactured by upper castes in India’s rigidly hierarchical society and is used to enforce their superiority.

       Brahmins, the priestly caste at the top of the chain, link smell to purity and spirituality. Air permeated with the scent of cooked meat is considered impure. That prescribes not just the personal diets of Brahmins and other upper castes but those of the people around them.

       In the lower social strata are tribal, Dalit and Shudra communities, which make up a large part of the Hindu faith. Historically, they got nutrition despite their meagre means by eating pork, beef and meat from other readily available animals.

       “Food habits and caste cannot be separated in Indian culture. Just as caste is cemented at birth, so is diet,” wrote author Shahu Patole in his book Dalit Kitchens Of Marathwada.

       Today, more than half of the population in India consumes meat, mostly chicken, and fish, according to the National Family Health Survey.

       Still, governments across India promote vegetarianism. In a country that lags on global hunger indexes, state funding is usually allocated only to vegetarian sources. Under a large school lunch programme, contracts are increasingly awarded to Hindu religious organisations that avoid eggs and meat in favour of vegetarian food.

       Mr Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, which has traditionally drawn support from upper castes, has presented the notion of “pure vegetarianism” as a nationalist ideology since it took power in 2014. That push is intended to shape a monolithic Hindu identity that paints over caste divisions, analysts say.

       Increasingly, those who do not conform to these ideas of food purity or who question them – including religious minorities such as Muslims, as well as lower-caste communities and political activists – have come under attack. Some are trolled and shamed online. Others have had their homes bulldozed or have even been lynched.

       Mr Naidu, the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, was widely seen as settling political scores with his Christian predecessor Jagan Mohan Reddy, when he accused Mr Reddy of awarding a contract for the temple – the government has considerable control over its administration – to a company that made ghee adulterated with other animal fats.

       When Mr Reddy announced that he would visit the temple earlier in October, Hindu organisations demanded that he sign a declaration form meant for non-Hindu pilgrims, affirming his faith in the temple deity. Mr Reddy cancelled the visit. NYTIMES