For India’s temple towns, fast food restaurants like McDonald’s and Burger King go entirely vegetarian

International restaurant and cafe brands now visit holy sites like the Golden Temple, Vaishno Devi, Tirupati, and Shirdi, but they do so for financial gain rather than spiritual fulfilment. Food brands like Burger King, McDonald’s, Domino’s, Burger Singh, Subway, and ChaiPoint are opening restaurants at pilgrimage sites while also adhering by religious tenets, attracted by the sizable captive markets these locations offer.

Burger King CEO Rajeev Karman told the Economic Times that the restaurant in the temple town of Katra is the first in the world to offer a 100% vegetarian menu that is free of onions and garlic. Burger King opened its first store there. Katra is home to the Vaishno Devi Temple.

Anant Agarwal, the promoter of McDonald’s North and East, is claimed to have stated that the company also has plans to open restaurants at Ayodhya, Kamakhya Temple, and Katra in the upcoming months. He stated that in these sites, the restaurant would serve only vegetarian food free of onion and garlic.