Photo courtesy: ANI
New Delhi: Amid the controversy over the alleged use of “beef tallow” in the ghee used to make the famous Tirupati laddoos, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams on Monday 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.
The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) is the board that manages the Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple in Tirumala. It said a “mistake” had 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 aimed 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 Shyamala Rao and other board officials were also present.
According to TTD sources, Rao met Naidu on Sunday 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, News18 reported.
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.
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