Pawan Kalyan, Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, expressed his concern over the controversy centering around the presence of animal fats in the prasadam of Tirupati Balaji on Twitter. He said the TTD board was set up by the YCP government and has to answer now and that the government would ‘not spare’ anybody and felt the need to have a ‘Sanatana Dharma Rakshana Board’ at the national level. It would dwell upon varied problems about temples present throughout India.

It all began with a report that animal fats and fish oil are being used as ingredients in the laddoos being given as prasadam at the Tirupati temple, Andhra Pradesh. In this connection, the TTD has formed a four-member committee, which will go into the ghee supply process and recommend stricter measures that the body can take to ensure that only quality ingredients are used to avoid such incidents in the future.

Committee To Check Ghee Quality
TTD Executive Officer, J Syamala Rao has decided that a four-member committee of dairy experts are to be constituted to probe into the quality of ghee being put into laddoos. The committee will consist of Dr. Surendranath, Dr. Vijay Bhaskar Reddy, Dr. Swarnalatha, and Dr. Mahadevan. Suggestions will also be made about upgrading the tender so that only quality ghee shall be purchased.

Rao also warned the contractors that severe action will be taken if they get adulterated or low-quality ghee. Ghee supply by one company was found adulterated and its notice has been issued as well as it has been blacklisted for future contracts. Another company is detected providing low-quality ghee as well.

Testing Difficulties
Rao admitted that at present, there was no good equipment available to check for adulteration in ghee. “We need good equipment to ensure the prasad is pure. Then we will not have any problems like this in the future,” he said.

Lab Report Shocks Public
The controversy started when the report from the private lab, NDDB CALF, carried information of using animal fats, such as beef tallow, lard, and fish oil to prepare Tirupati laddoos. This report shocked the public and was shared by TDP spokesperson Anam Venkata Ramana Reddy.

Political Allegations
The lab results have made it a political fight. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu accused the YSR Congress Party, which was the previous government, of using animal fats and low-quality ingredients to prepare the laddoos. He said this brought in impurity in the prasad.

As a response, the YSRCP President YS Jagan Mohan Reddy termed Naidu’s allegations as ‘false,’ ‘hurt to Hindu sentiments.’ He claimed that Naidu is engaging himself in petty politics over a religious matter and challenged him to prove his allegations by swearing on the pure laddoos. According to Reddy, the laddoo quality is vigilantly monitored by his government.

Shocked Devotees
This Tirupati temple is one of the most important religious sites in India with millions of devotees visiting this temple every year. The controversy of using animal fats and of poor-quality ingredients for laddoos at this sacred place has left many devotees upset and concerned.

TTD Response
Reacting to the controversy, J Syamala Rao has promised to take strict action against all and sundry vendors who were found selling low-quality or adulterated ghee. He promised that now only the best ghee would be used in the laddoos.

Andhra CM Chandrababu Naidu said that his government is making all efforts so that the quality ingredients of prasad are maintained so such an incident does not happen again.