The controversy surrounding the Tirupati temple laddus has reached the Supreme Court. Two petitions have been filed in this regard.
Amid allegations that animal fat was mixed in the laddus of Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple (Tirupati Temple) in Andhra Pradesh, it is now claimed that tobacco has been found. A woman from Telangana claimed to have found pieces of tobacco wrapped in paper inside the laddus. He also posted his video.
The accuser, Donthu Padmavathi, is a resident of Gollagudem in Khammam district. She had visited the Tirumala temple on September 19. A video was shown showing paper and tobacco wrapped in laddu prasadam being brought from there. It was shared on some social media accounts, including some news channels. However, Indianewsget does not confirm this video.
Earlier, Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu had on September 18 alleged that animal fat vegetable oil and fish oil were mixed in laddus (prasadam) of Tirupati temple during the YSR Congress government in the state. The next day, TDP showed a lab report and claimed its allegations were confirmed.
This screenshot is from the video of the woman who made the accusation. It is claimed that when they cut the laddu into pieces, a paper with wrapped tobacco came out.
Latest updates on Prasadam controversy
The Union Health Ministry has ordered samples of ghee from 4 companies. Ghee from one of these companies, AR Dairy Foods, failed the quality test. The government has issued a show cause notice to the company, with BJP leader Subramanian Swamy filing a petition in the Supreme Court. Swamy demanded a judicial inquiry into the use of animal fat in prasadam, Rajya Sabha member and former president of Devasthanams (TTD) YV Subba Reddy also demanded that a committee headed by a retired Supreme Court judge investigation into the matter. A meeting of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad was held at Sri Lalitha Peetham. VHP has appealed to the Supreme Court to take action on the Tirupati laddu tampering allegations and initiate an investigation to identify the culprits. A case has been registered against former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and others. A lawyer filed the complaint at the Saidabad police station in Hyderabad. The YSR Congress Party has filed a petition in the Andhra Pradesh High Court regarding the laddu fat dispute. The hearing will take place on September 25.
Ghee from one of five suppliers failed tests The Karnataka Cooperative Milk Federation (KMF) had been supplying ghee to the trust at concessional rates for the last 50 years. 1,400 tonnes of ghee are used in the Tirupati temple every six months. In July 2023, the company refused to supply at a lower rate, after which the Jagan (YSRCP) government gave the supply work to 5 companies. One of them is AR Dairy Foods based in Dindigul, Tamil Nadu. A defect was found in its product in July this year.
TDP government arrived, sample tested in July, grease confirmed The TDP government had appointed senior IAS officer J Shyamala Rao as the new Managing Director of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) in June 2024. He ordered to check the quality of Prasadam (Laddus). A committee was formed for this purpose.
The committee made many suggestions to improve the taste and quality of Prasad. We have also sent samples of ghee to the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), Gujarat, for analysis. Fat was mentioned in the report released in July.
After this, TTD returned the stock of ghee sent by AR Dairy Foods of Dindigul, Tamil Nadu and blacklisted the contractor. After this, TTD started purchasing ghee from the Karnataka Milk Federation.
The ghee was purchased from the previous supplier at a rate of Rs 320 per kg. Tirupati Trust now purchases ghee from the Karnataka Co-operative Milk Federation (KMF) at a rate of Rs 475 per kg.
NDDB CALF (Anand, Gujarat), a ghee testing laboratory, has agreed to donate a machine to Tirupati to test the purity of ghee. Its cost is Rs 75 lakh.
CM Naidu made the lab report public, controversy intensified The report published in July had confirmed the presence of fat in the laddus. However, TDP made the report public after two months. CM Naidu had claimed on September 18 that during the erstwhile Jagan government, animal fat and fish oil were mixed in the ghee used for laddus in the Tirupati temple. TDP also claimed to have confirmed his allegations by showing a laboratory report.
Naidu said that when ghee was available in the market at Rs 500 per kg, the Jagan government was selling it at Rs 320. I bought a kilo of ghee. In such a situation, the ghee must have been adulterated by the supplier. There will be an investigation into the purchase of cheap ghee by the Jagan government. The sanctity of the Tirupati temple has been tainted by laddus made from ghee containing animal fat.
After Mahashanti Yagya in Tirupati temple, all places were purified with Panchagavya. After the Yagya, this photo was shared by Devasthanam Council on X.
Mahashanti Yagya for purification of Tirupati temple Mahashanti Yagya was performed for the purification of the Tirupati temple. On September 23, 20 priests, including officials of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) board, participated in the Panchagavya Prokshana (purification) which lasted from 6 am to 10 am. In the ritual, the kitchen was purified with laddus and annaprasadam.
Krishna Seshachal Dikshitulu, one of the chief priests of the temple, said, “The government has come up with a proposal on what should be done to purify the temple. So we went to management with a proposal to create Shanti Home. At 6 am we all went to the sanctum sanctorum to seek blessings and permission from Lord Venkateswara. Now that everything has been purified, I ask all the faithful not to worry anymore. Have darshan of Lord Balaji and bring home the prasad.
300 year old cuisine, only Brahmins earn 3.5 lakh laddus
In the Tirupati temple, around 200 Brahmins prepare laddus with pure 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 70,000 devotees visit Lord Venkateswara Swamy here. Its administration is carried out by Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanams (TTD).
In the 300-year-old ‘Potu’ kitchen built within the temple premises, 3.50 lakh laddus are prepared daily using pure desi ghee. This is the main prasad of the temple, performed by around 200 Brahmins.
Laddu contains pure gram flour, boondi, sugar, cashew nuts and pure ghee. The Trust had sent around one lakh laddus to Ayodhya at the time of the consecration of the Ram temple in January 2024.
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After Tirumala, questions are now being asked about the offerings at the Siddhivinayak temple in Mumbai. After a video went viral, it was claimed that baby rats were found in temple offerings. In the video, we see the carat containing the Prasad, which has been eaten away. Baby rats are visible in one corner of the carat. After the video was released, Temple Trust Chairman Sada Sarvankar said about the purity of Prasad that the place shown in the video was not part of the temple. There is an attempt to tarnish our image. The Temple Trust will respond to the viral video at the press conference.