Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) is one of the world's richest shrines and there is no dearth of funds for the Trust that runs Lord Venkateswara's shrine. After Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu released a report prepared by a Gujarat-based livestock lab confirming the presence of animal tallow in samples of ghee supplied for making Tirupati laddus, the question arises: Where was the need to seek ghee at cheaper rates? Who can believe that the TTD Trust was facing fund shortage while purchasing pure ghee for the Lord? Had the Trust told the people that it was facing fund shortage in buying pure ghee for making laddus, crores of rupees would have poured into its coffers in a single day. Let me give some statistics. TTD Trust owns 11,329 kg of gold ornaments valued at Rs 8,500 crore. The Devasthanam Trust has Rs 18,817 crore cash balance in its accounts. Its annual revenue is nearly Rs 1200 crore.
The temple has a more than Rs 5,000 crore budget for maintenance. Every day, 3.5 lakh laddus are prepared as prasadam for Lord Venkateswara. Even if one accounts for a cheaper price for ghee purchased for making laddus, the profit would have been hardly Rs 9-10 crore. Was adulterated ghee purchased to save Rs 9-10 crore? Was the ghee supplier changed by the world's richest temple to save Rs 10 crore and ghee containing beef tallow and fish oil was detected by the lab in its sample? Nobody will believe this. The moot question is: Was cheaper ghee rate shown as excuse to change the ghee supplier? Was bribe given to get the ghee supply contract? Who hurt the emotions of more than a billion devotees of Lord Venkateswara? Those who committed this unforgiveable sin must be punished. AP minister Pawan Kalyan has given a good suggestion. He has suggested that a Sanatan Dharma Raksha Board be set up to look into all problems faced by Hindu shrines.
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