History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c26.s3.t1.7

v1.c26.s3.t1.7

Early south India had few dining taboos, and eating in hotels must have been a common practice. One work of about the 3rd century AD, *Mathuraikkañcī*, describes (*Kanakasabhai*, 1904, pp. 125-135) thus the market place of Madurai; “the hotels and restaurants are now, in the cool of the evening, crowded with visitors who feast upon luscious fruits such as the jackfruit, mango and plantain, and on sugar candies, tender greens, edible yams, sweetened rice and savoury preparations of meat”. In the heyday of Vijayanagar in the 16th century AD, visitors like Varthema, Barbosa and Paes describe the markets overflowing with meat and vegetables (Randhawa, 1982, II, pp. 113-114).