Amid Tirupati laddu row temple declines devotee’s claim of ‘insect’ in prasad
Updated: Oct 7th, 2024
A devotee claimed to find an insect in the prasad (offering) of Venkateswara Temple, Tirumala Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh. The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) trust of the temple has dismissed the claims of the devotee.
According to the devotee, Chandu, he found a centipede in his ‘curd rice’, while lunch was served on a banana leaf.
On intimidating the authorities, Chandu allegedly got a vague response, ‘It happens sometimes’.
Chandu claimed that instead of taking the matter seriously, he was threatened.
The temple authorities claimed the leaf on which the prasad was served might have insects. They also claim that this is an attempt to discredit the faith of people in Lord Venkateswara by questioning the sanctity of prasad.
This comes after Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu stated the presence of animal fat in the Laddu prasad of Tirupati temple.
Later, party spokesman Anam Venkata Ramana Reddy revealed that a report of a sample of ghee tested at Gujarat-based livestock laboratory confirmed the presence of foreign fat.
The test done at the Centre of Analysis and Learning in Livestock and Food (CALF) at the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), a facility recognized by the Central government, shows the ghee contained suspected adulterants.
These also included soybean, sunflower, olive, rapeseed, linseed, what germ, maize germ, cotton seed, coconut, palm kernel fat, and palm oil.
The CALF received the sample on July 9, while the lab report was dated July 16.
The Supreme Court ordered an independent Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe under the supervision of the CBI Director into the controversy surrounding the alleged use of animal fat in Tirupati laddus.
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