NEW DELHI, Sept 21: A fresh controversy has emerged from the Ayodhya Ram Temple over the remarks of the chief priest that laddoos from Tirupati were distributed as prasadam to the devotees during the consecration ceremony of the Ram Janmabhoomi temple in January, this year.
Amidst the on-going row over the alleged use of animal fat in the Tirupati laddoos, the remark by the Ayodhya’s Ram Temple chief priest Acharya Satyendra Das has triggered a demand for an investigation into the claims.
“I do not know how many laddoos were brought. The trust would know that. But, whatever laddoos came, the prasad was distributed among the devotees. The reports on contamination point to a dangerous conspiracy,” Acharya Satyendra Das said on Saturday.
Over one lakh laddus were dispatched by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), which manages the Sri Venkateswara temple, for the consecration ceremony. The ceremony was led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and was attended by over 8,000 dignitaries.
However, the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra, the trust which manages the Ram temple, said only cardamom seeds were distributed as prasadam during the consecration ceremony of Ram Lalla. Champat Rai, general secretary of the trust, said they were waiting for the Centre’s investigation report on the Tirupati laddoos. “We only distributed cardamom seeds to the devotees. I went to Tirupati once in my life in 1981, and it is not proper for me to comment on the controversy,” Rai said.
The Tirupati row has prompted several major temples across India to test the quality of the “Prasad” being distributed to devotees. At the Hanuman Garhi temple, one of the famous temples in Ayodhya, authorities said only laddoos made of desi ghee were offered as prasadam. “We use ghee from branded companies only. All the shopkeepers, who are our tenants, use the same in making the laddoos. From time to time, the purity of ghee is also checked and sampling is done. If any deficiency is found by any visitor, then that shop is completely closed,” said Sanjay Das, president of the Sankat Mochan Sena.
The controversy erupted after Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu alleged that animal fat and fish oil were found in the laddoos served as prasadam at Tirupati temple during the previous YSRCP regime. Citing a lab report from Gujarat, Naidu claimed the presence of “beef tallow”, “lard” (relating to pig fat), and fish oil in the ghee.
(Manas Dasgupta)