The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams on Monday held a purification ritual called the ‘Shanti Homam’ in the kitchens where the laddu are prepared for offering.
The samples were collected by the Food Safety and Drug Administration department and one ‘peda’ sample has been sent for testing in a Lucknow facility. FSDA Assistant Commissioner Dhirendra Pratap Singh said in the sampling campaign conducted at many places in Mathura and Vrindavan on Monday, 43 samples were collected from 15 vendors.
These include sweets and other items made from milk, ‘paneer’, ‘peda’, ‘barfi’, milk cake, ‘rasgulla’, ‘imarti’, ‘sonpapdi’, other sweets and spices. He said 42 of them were found to be within the standard but one sample of ‘peda’ was sent to Lucknow for testing. Dhirendra Pratap Singh said all the samples were collected on Sunday and Monday from the shops around the temples.
Earlier on Monday, Lucknow’s Mankameshwar Temple banned the offerings brought from the market. The temple administration has asked the devotees to bring homemade items for offerings.
“We have taken an initiative in view of the Tirupati Prasadam row. There is always some adulteration in the food products. We have banned the prasad bought from outside in the ‘Garbh Grih’. We have requested the devotees to bring homemade prasad,” said Mahant Divya Giri.
Tirupati Laddu Row
The decisions were taken amid claims of adulterated ghee being used for making the laddu at Sri Venkateswara Temple. The Tirupati Laddu, also called the ‘Srivari Laddu’, has been the main offering at the temple for more than 300 years. The newly-elected TDP government accused the previous YSRCP government of “adulteration” with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu claiming that animal fat was used in place of pure ghee, sparking concerns.
However, Jagan Mohan Reddy refuted the allegations and has written to Prime Minister Modi asserting that no violation took place under his government and the entire controversy is unwarranted.
Naidu on Sunday constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the alleged use of animal fat in laddus. “An Inspector General level or above officer-manned SIT will be formed. It will probe all the reasons, the misuse of power and give a report to the government. The government will take stringent action to avoid recurrences (laddu adulteration), there is no compromise,” he said.