This picture is from September 2020, when Jagan Mohan Reddy was CM when he came to Tirupati temple to have darshan of Lord Balaji.
YSR Congress Party chief and former Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan Mohan Reddy will visit the Lord Venkateswara temple on September 28. Amid allegations of animal fat adulteration in Tirupati prasadam, Jagan has announced a special ritual at the temple.
Following Jagan's announcement, the TDP has said that he will get entry into the temple only when he signs the temple's declaration stating that he has faith in Lord Balaji. The party alleged that for so many years he was going to the temple without signing.
In fact, there is a tradition for people of religions other than Hindus who want to have darshan of Lord Balaji, to sign a declaration form at the Tirupati temple. Under AP Revenue Settlement-1, non-Hindus are required to sign this declaration at the Vaikuntham Complex before performing darshan.
Here, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) has lodged a complaint with the Tirupati East Police Station against AR Dairy in Tamil Nadu, for supplying adulterated ghee. The case may be handed over to the SIT today.
The ladoo controversy started when CM Chandrababu Naidu on September 18 alleged that animal fat, vegetable oil and fish oil were mixed in Tirupati temple's laddoos during the YSR Congress government.
Jagan Mohan Reddy has been visiting the Tirupati temple since 2012
Image dated May 1, 2012. This was Jagan's second visit to the Tirupati temple.
- May 2012- Jagan, then Kadappana MP and YSR Congress president. Many workers had reached the temple with him. No one signed the declaration.
- September 2019 – After becoming Chief Minister, Jaganmohan visited Tirupati temple. Meanwhile, he gifted Pattu Vastram to Lord Venkateswara. He was the second chief minister in the Reddy family after his father.
- September 2020- Arrived to attend the temple's annual Brahmotsavam. Earlier, the temple administration was accused of canceling declaration forms for CM Jagan's visit.
- September 2022- Jagan went to Tirupati temple after Corona epidemic. This time the dispute was over his wife Bharti's personal travel in a government plane.
The claim of finding tobacco in the ladoo is also false
Donthu Padmavati, who alleged that the ladoos had leaked tobacco, is a resident of Gollagudem in Khammam district.
The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam also clarified on September 24 that the claim of tobacco pouches in the laddu prasadam is false. According to CPRO of TTD, Ladoo is made by Sri Vaishnava Brahmins in Tirumala. For which the rules are being followed strictly. Lakhs of laddus are prepared every day. Spreading false news about this system is unfortunate.
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 to 5 companies. One of these is AR Dairy Foods from Dindigul, Tamil Nadu. Its ghee was found to be adulterated in July this year.
TDP government 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 were sent to National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), Gujarat for testing. Fat 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 animal fat in the ladoo. However, TDP released the report 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 eroded by the ladoo made from ghee containing animal fat.
After the Mahashanti Yajna in the Tirupati temple, all the places were purified with Panchagavya. After the Yagya, this picture was shared on X by the Devasthanam board.
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).
