The Andhra Pradesh High Court will hear the Tirupati Prasadam (ladoo) controversy today. The YSR Congress has asked the court to form a committee to probe Naidu's allegations.
CM Chandrababu Naidu on September 18 alleged that animal fat, vegetable oil and fish oil were mixed in Tirupati temple laddus during the YSR Congress government. The next day, TDP showed the lab report and claimed that his allegations were confirmed.
On Monday, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy filed a petition in the Supreme Court. He has also demanded a court monitor probe.
However, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed on Sunday to probe the matter. CM Chandrababu Naidu said that the SIT will hand over the report to the government. Based on that, action will be taken to prevent such incidents from happening again.
Updates on the prasadam controversy
- A meeting of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad was held at Sri Lalita Peetham. The VHP has appealed to the Supreme Court to take action on the Tirupati Laddu adulteration allegations and initiate an inquiry to identify the culprits.
- Union Health Ministry ordered ghee samples from 4 companies. Ghee of one of these companies, AR Dairy Foods, failed the quality test. The government has issued a show cause notice to the company.
- Rajya Sabha member and former chairman of Devasthanam (TTD) Y.V. Subba Reddy has also demanded a committee headed by a retired Supreme Court judge to probe the matter.
- A case has been registered against former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and others. A lawyer has filed this complaint at the Saidabad Police Station in Hyderabad.
Claim to have found tobacco in Tirupati's Ladoo
The woman has claimed that there was tobacco in the ladoo.
It has also been claimed that tobacco was found in the Tirupati temple ladle. A woman from Telangana has alleged that she found crushed tobacco wrapped in paper inside a ladoo. He has also released his video.
The accuser, Donthu Padmavathy, is a resident of Gollagudem in Khammam district. She went to Tirumala temple on September 19. A video of paper and tobacco wrapped in laddu prasad brought from there was shown. It has been shared on several social media accounts including several news channels. However Frontpage Insights does not confirm this video.
One in five suppliers' ghee failed the test The Karnataka Cooperative Milk Federation (KMF) had been supplying ghee to the Trust at subsidized rates for the past 50 years. Tirupati 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 (YSRCP) awarded the supply work to 5 companies. One of these is AR Dairy Foods located in Dindigul, Tamil Nadu. In July this year, a fault was found in its production.
After the Mahashanti Yajna in the Tirupati temple, all the places were purified with Panchagavya. After the yajna, this picture was shared by the devasthanam board on X.
Mahashanti Yajna for the purification of Tirupati temple Mahashanti Yajna was performed for the purification of Tirupati temple. On September 23, 20 priests, including officials of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) board, participated in the Panchagavya exam (purification) that lasted from 6 am to 10 am. The kitchen was ritually purified with ladoos and food offerings.
Krishna Seshachal Dikshitulu, one of the chief priests of the temple, said, 'The government came up with a proposal as to what should be done to clean the temple. So we approached the management with a proposal to do Shanti Yajna. At 6 am we all went to the sanctum sanctorum to seek the blessings and permission of Lord Venkateswara. Now that everything is purified, I request all devotees that they need not worry anymore. Visit Lord Balaji and take Prasad home.'
How did this controversy come to light? The Karnataka Cooperative Milk Federation (KMF) had been supplying ghee to the Trust at concessional rates for the past 50 years. Tirupati 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 (YSRCP) awarded the supply work to 5 companies. One of these is AR Dairy Foods located in Dindigul, Tamil Nadu. In July this year, a fault was found in its production.
TDP govt came, sample test done in July, fate confirmed The TDP government appointed senior IAS officer J Shyamala Rao as the new executive officer of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) in June 2024. He ordered to check the quality of prasadam. A committee was formed for this.
The committee made several suggestions to improve the taste and quality of prasad. Also ghee samples have been sent to National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), Gujarat for testing. Fate was mentioned in a report that came out in July.
Following this, TTD returned the stock of ghee sent by AR Dairy Foods of Dindigul, Tamil Nadu and blacklisted the contractor. After this TTD started procuring ghee from Karnataka Milk Federation.
Ghee was purchased from the old supplier at Rs 320 per kg. Now Tirupati Trust is buying ghee from Karnataka Co-operative Milk Federation (KMF) at Rs 475 per kg.
Ghee Purity Testing Lab NDDB CALF (Anand, Gujarat) has agreed to donate a machine to Tirupati to test the purity of ghee. Its price is 75 lakh rupees.
CM Naidu makes lab report public, controversy grows A report in July confirmed the presence of fat in the ladoo. However, TDP made the report public after two months. CM Naidu had on September 18 alleged that animal fat and fish oil were mixed in the ghee used for laddus in the Tirupati temple during the former Jagan government. The TDP has also claimed to confirm its allegations by showing the lab report.
Naidu said, when ghee was available in the market at Rs 500 per kg, the Jagan government bought ghee for Rs 320 per kg. In such a case, the ghee must have been adulterated by the supplier. There will be an inquiry into the purchase of low-priced ghee by the Jagan government. The sanctity of the Tirupati temple has been defiled by the ladoo made from ghee containing animal fat.
A 300-year-old kitchen, only Brahmins make 3.5 lakh laddus
At the Tirupati temple, around 200 Brahmins make laddus with pure country ghee in a 300-year-old kitchen.
Tirupati Temple is one of the most popular and richest religious places in the world. Every day around 70 thousand devotees visit Lord Venkateswara Swamy here. Its administration is controlled 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, sugar, cashew nuts and pure ghee. In January 2024, during the consecration of the Ram temple, the trust sent around one lakh ladus to Ayodhya.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
