Amid outrage over 'adulterated' laddus offered at the Tirupati Temple in Andhra Pradesh, temple authorities in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj have banned devotees from bringing sweets and other processed items for offerings and instead urged them to bring coconut. The restrictions have been announced by several prominent temples in Sangam city, including Alop Shankari Devi, Bade Hanuman, and Mankameshwar.
Priests' reactions
Shiv Murat Mishra, the chief priest of the famous Lalita Devi temple of Prayagraj, said, "In the meeting of our temple management held on Tuesday, it was decided that prasad of sweets will not be offered to the goddess in the temple, but devotees have been requested to offer coconut, fruits, dry fruits, cardamom etc." He said there is a plan to open shops in the temple premises itself where pure sweets are made available to the devotees.
Yamuna Puri Maharaj, chief patron of the Alop Shankari Devi Temple and secretary of Shri Panchayati Akhara Mahanirvani, said devotees have been banned from bringing sweets and prasad from outside. Mahant Shridharanand Brahmachari Ji Maharaj of the Mankameshwar temple located on the Yamuna bank said, “After the Tirupati controversy, we have banned bringing prasad from outside to Mankameshwar temple. We have written a letter to the district magistrate to get the 'laddu-peda' available in the shops outside the temple tested.”
Lucknow temple bans market-bought offerings
Earlier on Monday, the famous Mankameshwar temple in Lucknow has also banned offerings of 'prasad' bought by devotees from outside and said they can offer homemade 'prasad' or fruits. The temple management is also taking steps to ensure the purity of prasad offered on the site, with plans to conduct quality checks and potentially establish their own prasad production facilities.
Tirupati ladoo row
It should be noted here that this move reflects a growing concern for the safety and authenticity of offerings, particularly in the wake of the Tirupati laddu row. The row over Tirupati laddus erupted after Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu claimed that substandard ingredients and animal fat were used in their preparation during the previous YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government. The YSRCP, in turn, has accused Naidu of indulging in "heinous allegations" for political gains.
(With PTI inputs)
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