It’s controversies galore for Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams in 2024

Allegations and counter-allegations over the Tirumala temple administration dominated the campaigns within the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha and Meeting elections in Andhra Pradesh.
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The 12 months 2024 noticed Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), the governing physique of the Lord Venkateswara temple at Tirumala, being marred by a number of controversies.

The TTD, among the many richest temple belief boards on this planet, was caught within the crossfire of political rivalries within the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha and Meeting elections, with then ruling YSR Congress Social gathering (YSRCP) and Opposition utilizing points associated to the functioning of temple administration throughout their campaigns. Allegations and counter-allegations dominated the narratives.

Essentially the most contentious problem that dominated the election campaigns was the alleged embezzlement of the funds belonging to the SriVani Belief which generates a income of round ₹570 crore yearly by the sale of darshan tickets.

Although the allegations of fund diversion had been later deemed deceptive, the injury induced is believed to be one of many contributing components that led to the downfall of the Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy authorities.

The allegations of poor high quality meals served to devotees as a part of the Nitya Annadanam scheme and compromising of temple norms added gas to the fireplace.

After the Telugu Desam Social gathering (TDP) returned to energy, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu vowed to revive the TTD’s sanctity, pledging to ‘cleanse the complete administrative system’ and shield devotees’ sentiments.

Nevertheless, the picture of the TTD suffered a setback because of the allegations associated to the usage of ghee adulterated with animal fats within the making of laddus and different prasadams.

The allegations made by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu sparked a nationwide outrage, prompting the Supreme Court docket to represent a Particular Investigation Workforce (SIT) comprising the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Andhra Pradesh police, and the Meals Security and Requirements Authority of India (FSSAI) to probe the difficulty.

The transfer briefly sidelined a State-led probe, underlining the gravity of the allegations.

In the meantime, the TTD blacklisted A.R. Dairy Meals Personal Restricted, the accused ghee provider, and carried out purification rituals contained in the hill shrine. A ‘Shanti Homam was additionally carried out as an act of atonement, assuaging the issues of the devotees. 

The TTD confronted yet one more setback with allegations of corruption within the allocating contracts for engineering works, involving kickbacks price a number of crores of rupees. The general public outrage led the State authorities to dispatch a 200-member investigation group, although their findings are but to be made public.

Parakamani row

Including to the establishment’s woes was the resurfacing of an previous case of Parakamani (temple treasury) theft. The scandal, allegedly involving crores siphoned from the temple’s Hundi, resurfaced after TDP MLC B. Ramgopal Reddy demanded a probe and Union Minister Bandi Sanjay and TTD board member G. Bhanuprakash Reddy demanding a radical investigation.

Whereas so, the turbulent 2024 additionally introduced important milestones for the TTD. For the primary time, the temple’s annual price range crossed ₹5,000 crore, reflecting its rising monetary prowess.

Silver lining

The establishment additionally performed a pivotal function in nationwide non secular occasions and dispatched one lakh laddus to Ayodhya for the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple.

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) expressed willingness to help the TTD in renovating the traditional constructions in Tirumala and Tirupati.

On the executive entrance, the TTD allotted home websites to over 6,000 workers, raised wages for 9,750 contract and outsourced staff, and launched measures to streamline darshan strains, together with exploring the feasibility of espousing Synthetic Intelligence (AI) in offering a sooner darshan to the devotees.