The TDP government in Andhra Pradesh has accused the previous Jagan government of playing with the sanctity of the Tirumala temple.
Controversy is growing over the sanctity and purity of Tirupati temple's laddu prasadam. Andhra Pradesh's Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has again claimed that apart from fatty ghee, beef, pig fat and fish oil have been confirmed.
Spokesperson Anam Venkat Ramana Reddy released the lab report at a press conference on Thursday, September 19. He informed that the samples were sent to Livestock Laboratory, NDDB (National Dairy Development Board) CALF Limited (Centre for Analysis and Learning in Livestock and Food) of Gujarat on July 9, 2024. The lab report was received on July 16.
The report has since been in the public domain, but has not been officially confirmed. The report neither mentions the name of the issuing institution nor the place where the sample was tested.
On the other hand, there is no official statement from the temple administration. 3.50 lakh laddus are made daily in the 300-year-old kitchen of the Tirupati temple.
TDP spokesperson Anam Venkat Ramana Reddy made the lab report public on Thursday.
CM Naidu accused the previous government of violating sanctity
Andhra Chief Minister and TDP supremo N. Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday September 18 accused the previous YSRCP government led by Jagan Mohan Reddy of mixing animal fat in Tirupati Prasad. He said that the Jagan Mohan government has destroyed the sanctity of Prasad.
Chandrababu said that YSRCP leaders have tarnished the sanctity of Tirumala in the last 5 years. Animal fat was used instead of ghee in the sacred laddu of Tirumala. However now we use pure ghee in prasad. We are working hard to protect the sanctity of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD).
Naidu said that the contract with the company from which ghee was being procured has been blacklisted. The investigation of this case has been handed over to Vigilance. The company got the supply tender a year ago and Congress leader and Jagan Mohan's sister Sharmila has demanded a CBI probe.
3.50 lakh laddus are made daily in Tirupati temple from pure country ghee.
The Jagan government in July 2023 assigned the task of supplying ghee to 5 companies
For the last 50 years, the Karnataka Cooperative Milk Federation (KMF) was supplying ghee to the trust at subsidized rates. The temple consumes 1400 tonnes of ghee every six months. In July 2023, the company refused to supply at lower rates, after which the Jagan government awarded the supply work to 5 companies.
On July 17 this year, the National Dairy Development Board's food lab, CALF, reported that Tirumala's ladoo uses ghee made from animal fat and fish oil. During the investigation, it was found that the ghee of one firm was adulterated.
After this in July the EO of Tirumala Trust J. Shyamala Rao held a meeting and sent Ladu's samples to the lab. Now Naidu has exposed his report. Ghee was found to be adulterated with beef, fish oil and lard.
A 300-year-old kitchen, only Brahmins make 3.5 lakh laddus
Around 200 Brahmins in the Tirupati temple make laddus with pure country ghee in a 300-year-old kitchen.
Tirupati temple is one of the most popular and rich religious places in the world. Every day around 70 thousand devotees visit Lord Venkateswara Swamy here. It is administered by the Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanams (TTD).
3.50 lakh laddus are made daily using pure country ghee in the 300 year old kitchen 'Potu' built in the temple premises. This is the main offering of the temple, which is made by about 200 Brahmins. Ladoo consists of pure gram flour, boondi, sugar, cashew nuts and pure ghee. At the time of consecration of the Ram temple, the trust had sent about one lakh ladus to Ayodhya.
Ghee is made by mixing fat to reduce cost Andhra Pradesh government has again assigned the task of supplying ghee to KMF on 29th August. KMF supplies Nandini brand of Desi Ghee. On the other hand, TTD has constituted a four-member special committee to monitor the quality of ghee.
NABL officials told Bhaskar that no fat is ever used in pure ghee. However, it is sometimes used to reduce production costs.
When KMF stopped supply last year, it claimed that if any company gets a bid to the trust at a price lower than this, it will definitely compromise the quality of ladles. Its effect will be seen on prasadam.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
