In V.S. 1877 (1821 C.E.), the house of Sura Khachar, a devout devotee of Shreeji Maharaj, was robbed. He then prayed that if he got the money back, he would use half of the amount for a religious celebration to please Bhagwan Shree Swaminarayan. With the blessings of Bhagwan Shree Swaminarayan, he recovered his full amount intact, so at the request of his wife Shantaba, he decided to use the full amount for a grand celebration.
As there were no religious festivals in the near days, everyone was thinking of how to celebrate the festival such that a large number of devotees could participate. Meanwhile, some devotees came for darshan of Bhagwan Shree Swaminarayan and presented fresh ringana (eggplants) as offerings. Looking at the offering, Bhagwan Shree Swaminarayan decided to start a new type of celebration- to organize a ‘Shaak Utsav’. He told Sura Khachar to announce this event and invite Haribhakto to the Shaak Utsav in Loya on Maha Sud 7.
Bhagwan Shree Swaminarayan Himself undertook the initiative to cook the shaak all by Himself. He wore a white dhoti and began cutting the eggplants. He then made ‘vaghar’ of 12 maunds of pure Ghee and 60 maunds of eggplant at a time. It is said that He cleaned His hands in His dhoti, which turned the color of His white dhoti to yellow, which made Him look as if He was wearing ‘Pitamber’. This event has been documented by Sadguru Shree Muktanand Swami in his kirtan “Vali Vakhanu Shaak Utsav Lila Kari”.
When the vegetables were ready to serve, Shreeji Maharaj Himself served the devotees and santos. It is said that many other meals were also prepared along with shaak by other cooks, but surprisingly, all of the followers only ate the shaak. As they took each bite of the shaak, it tasted like the meal that each devotee had originally imagined eating.