Tirupati Laddu Row: The Great ‘Prasadam’ Debate

The only solution is to free all Hindu temples from the illegal control of politicians and hand them over to the devotees to run them according to religious norms.

A famous sacred sweet in an unsavory row in India

On September 19, 2024, the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh said: N Chandrababu Naidu hit like a bombshell by revealing that the critically acclaimed Tirupati Laddu had been deliberately faked beef fat And fish oil in its ingredients. A day later, a report from a laboratory in Gujarat confirmed these allegations, sparking outrage among Hindu communities and devotees. Beef is taboo for Hindus, as is pork for Muslims. This also leads to a “blame gamebetween the ruling party, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), and the opposition (and previously in power) YSR. Religious enthusiasm invariably ignites debates about the religious identity of opposing political rivals. YS Jagan Mohan Reddythe previous chief minister, despite his Hindu name and caste identity, is known as a die-hard Christian in his faith. Many of his relatives are involved proselytizing activities. Predictably, the needle of suspicion was upon him, for tacit complicity, for desecrating the divine food offered to the Lord.

‘Naivedhyam‘, and ‘Prasadam‘ are exclusive unique concepts of the Hindu belief system. For thousands of years, we believe that the Gods and Goddesses partake of the food items offered to them and this is called ‘Naivedhyam’, then the food is called ‘Prasadam’ and distributed to the devotees for consumption. The uniqueness of this belief system is that every and every temple in India has its own unique delicacy, offered to the presiding deity. There are unique ‘Payasams or Kheer’, rice offerings and numerous other sweet preparations. In Opilliappan Kovillocated in Tamilnadu Thanjavur Districtthe food offerings are all prepared without salt, hence the deity’s unique name. The first batch of converts who landed in India were amazed at the idea that God would enjoy human-prepared food. Many even questioned how our ‘Murtis’ could eat in temples? But with the passage of time, even the foreign gods have started consuming food offered by their devotees. Interestingly, foreign deities offer Hindu vegetarian delicacies, and these are even marketed as ‘Prasadam’!

Tirupati Laddu, also known as Sri Vari Laddu is the Laddu sweet offered as Naivedhyam Lord Venkateshwara at Tirumala Venkateshwara Temple, Tirupati, Tirupati district, Andhra Pradesh. The Laddu is given as Prasadam to devotees after completing Darshan in the temple. The Laddu is prepared in the temple kitchen known as ‘Potu‘. Tirupati Laddu received one Geographical indication (GI) tag which only entitles Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, which manages the temple and can make and sell it.

Similar iconic Naivedhyams are prepared in various temples like the famous one Ambalapuzha Palpayasam of Sri Krishna Temple, located in Ambalapuzha in Kerala, ‘Aravana payasam‘of Sabarimala,’Panchamrutam‘ from the Palani Temple in Tamil Nadu. 108 food items are offered as Naivedhyam to ‘Sri Panchamukha Hanuman‘ at Sri Panchamukha Anjaneyar Siddhar Peetam in Tharamani, near Chennai. There are special occasions when special eatables are offered to the gods. For example, “Thekua‘, made of wheat flour, ghee and sugar, is offered to the sun god and ‘Chhathi MaiyaGoddess on the occasion of the festival of “Chhath”. This is also the case on the eighth day of “Navaratri” on ‘Ashtami’ during Dussehra. The homemade “Thekua”, “Purukiya” “Gujhiya”, “Pua” and “Kheer” are offered to the Goddess as “Naivedhyam”.

The misconceived interpretation of ‘secularism’ in India by politicians, and ironically by the Hindus themselves, has ensured the total freedom of people. foreign religions and strict control over Hindu temples only. Despite more than seventy years of independence, the iron grip of the various state governments on Hindu temples has not relaxed, but has only worsened. Neither the Indian judiciary nor the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief UN Human Rights Councilwhich identifies existing and emerging obstacles to the enjoyment of the right to freedom of religion or belief, takes into account in any way the plight of over 1000 million Hindus. In addition, there is the annual report to the United States Congress on International Religious Freedom, which describes the status of religious freedom in each country. The report addresses government policies that violate the religious beliefs and practices of groups, religious denominations, and individuals. This institution has been hypersensitive to even the slightest resistance offered by the Hindus against the despicable machinations of the Hindustani foreign missionary gangsactive in India, but completely unperturbed by the illegal government control of Hindu temples.

The apathy of the Indian judiciary and international bodies has prompted several state governments to extend their tentacles deep into the administration of the templereligious practices, holding of festivals, appointment of priests and temple staff, fixing rates for various temple sacrifices, and the cost of Prasadams, fixing discriminatory rates for electricity consumption, water consumption, fixing salaries for priests and staff, it makes it mandatory imposition of local language and neglect of Sanskrit, auctioning of temple offerings by devotees, and most importantly, getting hold of the vast Hundi money collections. For this purpose political supporters of the rabble are selected to function as leaders of Devasthanams or Devasoms, members of the governing body and executive officers. Embezzlement of funds, theft of gold and silver items and rampant corruption in maintenance are common daily complaints against the authorities.

Moreover, the takeover of temples by the state governments is common focused against the temples of only certain communities. In Tamil Nadu, for example, these are the temples of the Brahmin community focused for takeover. In Kerala it is against the temples of the Namboodiri and Nair communities. The takeover of the temples themselves is a mafia-like operation, taking place in the early morning hours, supported by scores of Goonda Party supporters, officials storming and confiscating the various registries, Hundis being sealed, and gold and silver jewelery , ships are seized with typical bureaucratic arrogance, all under the watchful eye of the assembled and armed police force. This can never happen to any foreign religious worship, because the government knows that international condemnation and sanctions would come quickly and effectively. What kind of religious freedom and constitutional guarantees are we? wrongly boast about, while the belief system of over 1000 million Hindus is being brutally trampled and the judiciary has no time to plightbut even a terrorist can gain 24×7 access because his fundamental right to freedom is threatened?

Be that as it may, why did the staff from TTD not to raise the alarm? The cuisine where Tirupati Laddus is prepared has been called Laddu pōṭu since ancient times. It is located in the Sampangi Pradakshinam of the temple. Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams prepares an average of 2.8 lakh Laddus per day. All around 620 chefs work in the Laddu Potu. It is simply impossible to believe that none of them suspected any forgery.

In 2023, the High Court of Kerala instructed the Travancore Devasom Board (TDB) not to sell’Aravana Prasadam‘ in Sabarimala because the cardamom used in the preparation contained pesticides exceeding the minimum permitted limit (MRL). The presence of about 14 pesticides in the chemical analysis of the cardamom, which was purchased by the Council from a Kollam-based supplier, was detected. The court was of the opinion that the spice had to meet the standards at the time the contract was to be delivered 15,000 kg of cardamom in terms of regulations under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. As a result, approximately 6.65 lakhs Aravana cans were destroyed. Another controversy about the ‘Halal‘ stamp applied to the included Jaggery. This also had to be raised before the Kerala High Court.

Recently, the news went viral that the Kerala Devasom Board is the contract of making the ‘Aravana Payasam’ to a Muslim person and that the Prasad is available under the Arabic name ‘Al-Zahaa‘ and it says ‘Halal’ on it. Heavy criticism followed from all over the country.

All these controversies crop up regularly as a result of heavy corruption and purposeful maladministration by the government-controlled Devasthanams or Devasoms. The only solution is to free all Hindu temples from the illegal control of politicians and hand them over to the devotees to run them as per regulations. religious norms. If autonomy can be granted to universities, schools, colleges, airlines and multinational companies, why not Hindu temples?

At the time of writing this article, the Andhra CM was Chandrababu Naidu announced on September 22 the formation of a TO SIT to investigate the Tirupati Prasadam controversy. Let’s hope the guilty will be punished.

Remark:
1. Enter text Blue refers to additional data on this topic.
2. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.

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