YouTube star Grandpa Kitchen, who cooked gigantic meals for orphans, has died

YouTube channel Grandpa Kitchen has announced its beloved star Narayana Reddy passed away on October 27. The 73-year-old resident of Telangana, India, rose to internet fame through his popular cooking videos, in which he prepared ridiculously large portions of food.

Reddy's outsized meals weren't a simple pursuit of internet notoriety, but a reflection of his equally outsized heart. The results of Reddy's cooking went straight into to the mouths of hungry orphans, while the proceeds from his YouTube channel are reportedly donated to charities.

"Our goal is to provide basic necessities like food, clothing, school supplies and birthday gifts to orphans," states Grandpa Kitchen's Patreon.

Many viewers were touched by Reddy's warmth, generosity and optimism, and expressed concern as his health appeared to decline over the past few months. His last cooking video was posted on September 20, after which he became too ill to continue. Reddy's son Shrikant and others continued to make videos as per his request.

Grandpa Kitchen launched on YouTube in August 2017, and in the two years since amassed over six million subscribers. In the channel's most popular video, Reddy cooks an industrial-sized batch of French fries from scratch then serves them to a large group of children. It has been viewed 37 million times.

The video announcing Reddy's death includes various clips of him cooking, as well as footage from his funeral. It ends with the message: "You are live forever in our hearts... Through not being around [sic]."

Tributes have poured in from viewers all over the world, many of whom considered him their own grandpa.

"Loving. Caring. Sharing," Reddy often said. "This is my family."

Rest in peace, grandpa.