Ans: The deity made of stone may get some defects owing to natural reasons such as heat or inadvertent physical damage. Bathing of deity using milk, honey, yogurt helps identifying these defects even by a simple lay man. This process should be done regularly to identify defects sooner than later. 

Detailed Answer: Thirumanjanam is done for deities (not to be mentioned as idol). It’s the process of bathing the deity with ingredients such as milk, yogurt, honey etc.  The deity is made of material like stone, metal, etc. Sometimes the material may get some defects owing to natural reasons such as heat or due to some inadvertent physical damage. These may not be visible to the naked eye. Since the priests are not experts in determining these defects, there are simple procedures prescribed to identify the same. Milk, yogurt, honey are the 3 materials that help in identifying the originality and quality of the stone and also anything unnatural. The process is done while consecrating the deity initially as well. Swami quotes an example where kshi:ra agriva:sam was done for deity (soaking the deity in milk) to be consecrated in a new temple. After 12 hours it was found that the back of the head of deity developed a big hole as it was hollow and was defective. This wasn’t detectable with the naked eye as the vigraha had been covered from outside. Thirumanjanam is a simple process that even a lay man can perform and understand to identify such defects. And it needs to be performed regularly to identify defects sooner than later. It’s not appropriate to have a deity in a temple where the stone has defects as it may yield bad results. 

Ans: Milk, yogurt, honey and fruits used in thirumanjanam represent knowledge, faith, love and the results of our actions. Symbolically the process implies that we offer these to the Lord and we get them back purified along with His grace i.e knowledge given by Him, love and faith towards Him and results of our action to Him.

Detailed Answer: Each and every religious practice uses natural methods and have a scientific reason behind it. Apart from that, these practices also have a symbolic meaning. Milk, yogurt and honey are used in Thirumanjanam of the deities. Fruits are offered to God as part of the process. Milk is the symbol for knowledge, yogurt is the symbol for faith, honey is a symbol for love and the fruits are the symbol for the results of our action. These things, which are there in every human being, are offered to God requesting him to purify them. By offering Him milk, yogurt and honey, we imply that we offer or  dedicate our knowledge, faith and love to Him and through fruits offer the results of our actions (karma phala)  . When we get these back, we get them back along with His grace i.e., knowledge given by Him, faith towards Him, love towards Him. Our life becomes much smoother and we can enjoy life without tensions and sorrow. Anything offered to Him gets purified and sanctified. As a result of the purification process one does not get attached to these things.

Ans: The quantity of ingredients used in Thirumanjanam is not much and is used to help detect any defects in the stone. And after thirumanjanam the same is distributed to devotees and is not wasted or trashed. Rather than thinking it as a waste it should be looked as enriching the thought process of people who consume the same later. 

Detailed Answer: Thirumanjanam is done for two reasons, one is scientific that is necessary to identify defects in the material that the deity is made of. The other is symbolical representation of offering our love, knowledge, faith and results of our actions to Him and get it back along with His grace. In this activity the quantity of ingredients used, is not much. It is done using only recommended quantities, unless it’s a deity that is extremely large such as Sravana Belagola. And the thirumanjanam prasadam is once more distributed to devotees and not wasted or trashed. Apart from these, temples also have many schemes such as annadhanam that distributes food for the needy. Rather than looking at this as a waste, it should be looked as enriching the thought process of people who eat the same after being offered to God.Â