Tirupati Laddu News: Temple trust ‘restores sanctity’ of prasad amid row over ‘beef fat, fish oil’ adulteration

The Tirupati temple trust indicated on Friday that it had ‘restored the sanctity’ of its prasad amid a brewing adulteration row. The development came even as several union minister called for an investigation and members of the YSRCP sparred with the ruling coalition.

“The divinity and purity of srivari laddu is unblemished now. TTD is committed to protecting the holiness of laddu prasadam to the satisfaction of all the devotees,” read a post from the temple board on X.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu had sparked a massive debate earlier this month after citing a lab report to allege adulteration of the Tirupati laddus. He claimed that substandard ingredients including animal fat had been used to prepare the sweets offered at the Sri Venkateswara temple during the YSRCP government.

Former Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy however dubbed the claims ‘atrocious’ and accused the TDP of “politicising religious matters”.

Temple officials however claimed that there had been apprehensions about the quality of the prasadam under the previous government. Shamala Rao — the executive officer of Tirumala Tirupathi Devastanam — said there had been no existing system to check the quality of ghee.

The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams sent ghee samples for adulteration testing to an external lab earlier this week — after “receiving feedback from pilgrims regarding the poor quality of laddus in recent years and after consulting with the Potu workers”. It has since flagged “deficiencies in quality” without making any note of ‘animal fats’ in a lengthy social media thread on Friday.

“There were five ghee suppliers to TTD, with prices ranging from Rs. 320 to Rs. 411. These suppliers are Premier Agri Foods, Kriparam Dairy, Vaishnavi, Sri Parag Milk, and AR Dairy. However, these rates do not seem viable for supplying pure ghee,” it explained.

(With inputs from agencies)