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Amid the raging controversy of the alleged use of “beef tallow” in the ghee used to make the famous Tirupati laddoos, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams on Monday (September 23) held a “purification ritual” in the kitchens where the prasadam is prepared. The ritual, called the Mahashanti Yagam , took place a day after Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu ordered an SIT probe into the alleged use of animal fat in making the consecrated laddoos. #WATCH | Andhra Pradesh: TTD (Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams) organised a Maha Shanti Homam in the wake of Laddu Prasadam row.
Executive officer of Tirumala Tirupathi Devastanam (TTD) Shamala Rao and other officials of the Board participated in the Homamam along with the...
pic.twitter.com/Gkh7JFeljT — ANI (@ANI) September 23, 2024 The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) is the board that manages the Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple in Tirumala.
It said a “mistake” has been committed by offering prasadam and laddoos made of adulterated ghee to the Tirupati deity. The TTD further said it organised the Mahashanti Yagam as a “purification ritual to atone for this”. The event’s aim was to “rectify the mistake and maintain the sanctity of the temple”, it said.
The board said panchagavya , or five sacred products, were used to purify the laddoo potu (the kitchen where the laddoo is made) and annprasadam potu (the kitchen where the prasadam is made). The entire temple premises were “purified” using panchagavya , it said. Eight archakas , or priests, and three agama advisers took part in the ritual.
TTD executive officer Shamala Rao and other board officials were also present. According to TTD sources, Rao met Naidu on Sunday (September 22) and invited him for ‘Srivari Brahmotsavam’ (annual celebrations during Dussehra). He reportedly submitted a preliminary report on the issue of adulteration to the chief minister.
Two days after Naidu accused the previous YSRCP regime of using animal fat in the ghee used for Tirupati laddoos, the TTD executive officer said laboratory tests revealed the adulteration in chosen samples and the board is in the process of blacklisting the contractor who supplied this ghee. As the row reverberated across the country with demands to protect the sanctity of Hindu temples, the CM on Sunday announced a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the alleged use of animal fat in the laddoos. He has further alleged that several procedures to procure ghee by the TTD were altered under the government led by YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.
His predecessor, meanwhile, accused him of being a “pathological and habitual liar” in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging his intervention. Addressing a press conference at his Undavalli residence, Naidu said people’s sentiments were hurt after these revelations. “An inspector general level or above officer-manned SIT will be formed.
It will probe all the reasons, the misuse of power and give a report to the government. The government will take stringent action to avoid recurrences (laddoo adulteration), there is no compromise,” he said. The development came as a public interest litigation (PIL) was filed before the Supreme Court, seeking an SIT probe into the issue.
Filed by Surjit Singh Yadav, who is a farmer and the president of the Hindu Sena, the plea has alleged that the TTD by serving “laddoo prasadam” prepared using animal fat has ridiculed the Hindu religion and outraged Hindu sentiments. Cutting across party lines, several political leaders and religious leaders have demanded a thorough investigation into the allegations. The controversy surrounding the Tirupati laddoos has fuelled the demand for “freeing” temples across the country from government control.
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