Tirupati Ladoo Row: Freeing temple from secular hypocrisy

The recent statement by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has created a sensation. He reportedly said that during the rule of former Jaganmohan Reddy, ghee with pork and beef fat and fish oil was used in the laddu prasadam of Tirupati Balaji temple. It is noteworthy that the world famous Tirupati Balaji Temple is managed by a state government body called Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam or TTD. TTD Executive Officer J Shyamala Rao said that after the formation of the new government, as the new Executive Officer of TTD, he had ordered to check the quality of ghee used in the prasad. Samples from AR Dairy from the five ghee suppliers were found to contain gross irregularities. The purity of ghee is measured in S-value and the prescribed standard should be between 95.68 and 104.32, but the S-value of the sample from AR Dairy was found to be only 19.72.

Questionable role of father-son duo

Since the sample was so low, the possibility of a mixture of fat, i.e. beef fat, pork fat and fish oil, in the ghee was raised. The allegation of animal fat in ghee is extremely serious and has seriously attacked Hindu sentiments worldwide. It is to be noted that in the past, the conversion mafia has presented the fear of religious corruption to the Hindus by feeding them beef through deceit, and in such a situation, conversion is the only solution. The previous record of Jagan and his father Y Samuel Rajashekhar Reddy, the 14th chief minister of the state, was controversial. The Christian-origin father-son duo appointed two such people as Chief Executive Officers of TTD, who were accused of being Christians. Although both these officials Karunakar Reddy Bhumana and YV Subba Reddy denied these allegations, the video of Bhumana’s daughter’s Christian wedding was made public. Karunakar Reddy, who is from a Naxalite background, has also issued a statement in which he has called Bhagwan Venkateswara’s idol a black stone and talked about hitting it with a slipper. The father and son were one who made such hateful statements like Periyar, twice the chairman of TTD. Questions are also being raised about the intentions of the Reddy father-son duo as they want to keep their close relatives in the post of TTD chairman. Both Bhumana and YV Reddy are close relatives of Jagan. The seven hills of Tirumala in Tirupati are considered to be the abode of Bhagwan Venkateswara on earth. It is prohibited to build a place of worship of any other religion here, but during both the tenures of Rajashekar Reddy and Karunakar Reddy, attempts were made to restrict the sacred area to just two hills. During the same period, many churches and a large mosque came up in Tirupati and many non-Hindus also got jobs at TTD. There are reports of smuggling of idols from temples, stealing jewelry and appropriating temple land. The spread of Christianity is promoted just in front of the Tirupati temple. The use of offerings made with devotion to temples for non-religious purposes has become a way to loot government donations. For example, in 2002, the Karnataka HRCE department received Rs 72 crore from various temples but returned only Rs 10 crore to the temples for maintenance.

After the recent crime in Tirupati, it has come to light that the temple, which receives offerings worth around Rs 1,200 crore annually, does not even have a small laboratory to check the quality of prasad material. Given the way in which Hindu sentiments were trampled on in this case, the perpetrators should be given such a punishment that it becomes an example. In addition, Hindu temples should also be freed from government control. For this, it is also necessary that the Hindu society itself presents a comprehensive and strong blueprint of temple management and governance to the government. If such a serious matter is resolved, the government should take strict action against the temple. An attempt was also made to dilute the sanctity of a major pilgrimage of the Hindu faith by promoting entertainment venues such as amusement parks in Tirupati. These were some examples of different ways to attack the Hindu faith in the richest and most respected temple in the world. Reports of gross mismanagement of financial resources, increasing corruption and neglect of temple maintenance are leading to the loss and destruction of temple antiquities. The supremacy of the Constitution is repeatedly invoked, but unfortunately various ‘secular’ governments control the ‘sacred’ temples, which are the centers of Hindu faith, and commit the most despicable fraud on the sentiments of Hindus under the guise of Constitution. . The governments formed to protect the Constitution are themselves tearing apart its spirit.

By taking over temples for their vested interests, they are openly violating Articles 12, 25 and 26 of the Constitution of Bharat, while the honorable judiciary has made it clear in many cases that governments should refrain from managing temples and their properties . It is a pity that Hindus are no longer allowed to manage their own temples even after 77 years of independence. Minorities have special provisions under Article 30 of the Constitution and are allowed to run their religious institutions without any government intervention, but Hindus are not allowed to do so. The world knows that the Muslim invaders have plundered and destroyed temples. The British cleverly established control over them and started the process of non-stop plunder and discretion from them, which was continued by the current governments as well.

Restore the sanctity of the temple

Despite many rulings of the Supreme Court and Supreme Court that it is not the job of a secular government to control or manage a place of faith, about four lakh temples have been captured by various governments. It appears that many major temples, despite enormous sacrifices, are suffering such a loss that proper provision cannot even be made for their worship materials. Iftar parties can be held in many temples of Kerala, but Hindu religious programs require a huge fee. Due to the irregularities taking place at Tirupati Balaji and other Hindu places of worship, the Hindu society’s belief has strengthened that without freeing their temples from government control, their sanctity cannot be restored. It is a well-established belief that the property and income of Hindu temples should be used only for the development of temples and dharmic works of Hindus. Temples should be freed from their illegal and immoral possession and handed over to Hindu saints and devotees under some system. The form of this system has already been determined by the venerated saints after many years of contemplation and discussion and is being used successfully in various places. Now there is a demand from every section of society that the temples be ‘socialized’ and not ‘governed’. One must also keep in mind that the beef-filled cartridges were the cause of the 1857 revolution. Here the beef and pork fat in the holy prasad will free the temples. The ‘secular’ governments must leave the ‘holy’ places.