A few people, who had read my blog of yesterday September 20th above, messaged me saying that while they understood the spirit in which I wrote it, and were in sympathy with my sense of outrage , still they felt that instead of focusing on the main issue of adulteration of Tirumala laddoo, I had needlessly discredited the Prasadam itself by going on and about to revealing the fact that since it never in the first place gets sacramentally offered as neivedhyam to the Deity of the temple, it possesses not one bit more sanctity than the “Annadaanam” free-meal being served to all pilgrims at a separate canteen-complex run by the TTD on the Hills.
In other words, the veiled accusation against me is that my blogpost only serves to needlessly open a can of worms. It only, unnecessarily, sows a seed of disturbing doubt in peoples’ minds over the question whether the temple “laddoo Prasadam, that has been distributed to millions of devotees all through these many decades in the past, truly ever qualified to be regarded as “bhagavath prasaadam” at all.
Why go suggesting or insinuating the inauthenticity of the temple prasaadam itself when the issue at hand is altogether different… ? It’s the adulteration of the Prasadam that is now the burning issue and so where is the need to infuse into the controversy yet another unsavoury dimension by raising the question whether the Laddoo Prasadam is really “bhagavath prasaadam” at all ?
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One very respected friend of mine — a very senior retired high-ranking government civil servant — in fact mildly chided me for writing such a provocative blog : “Don’t believe all this muck-raking at all … This to me is just despicable and dangerous politics .. a way in which C.Babu is simply taking revenge for all indignities heaped on him earlier by Jaganmohan R.
He may be clever to have devised this controversy in Tirumala just as a revenge that clearly plays with the sentiments and sensitivities of millions of Venkateshwara devotees….”.
For all we know , my friend may be very right . The expose of this Tirumala Laddoo-Gate affair may well be part of nasty Andhra Pradesh politics power-play. But then in such a nasty game of thrones between Andhra political rivals, why should the Temple get dragged in and its name and sanctity sullied? What political mileage are both Naidu and Reddy going to get from Laddoo-gate ? I ask myself.
In my view, as politicians they are going to both pay dearly for what they have done. In spite of being bitter political adversaries, and each acting in different ways , they together have only brought the holy Temple of Tirumala into disrepute. They can be likened to murderous villainous characters in a Shakespearean tragedy . Reddy like Brutus stuck a blade deep into Caesar’s back; and Naidu like Mark Anthony now stands over Caesar’s slain body to make a great rabble-rousing speech about how he has “come not to bury Caesar but to honour him”!
The Hindus of India , and the millions of devotees of Lord Sri Venkateshwara, if they considered themselves to be self-respecting citizens of this country, they should forgive neither Reddy nor Naidu… never. Because when Caesar fell to the ground dead that day in full view of all Senators, it was not Caesar’s honour that was brought down but all of Rome’s own. Today, it is Tirumalai’s honour that has been brought down .
Similarly, in this sordid Laddoo-gate Affair, to Hindus it matters little really who is the culprit and who is the whistle-blower …. They both are equally, constructively and culpably responsible for heaping dishonour and disgrace on the Tirumala Temple. Naidu and Reddy are both very much part of the political-class and system that has brought the Tirumala Temple to this sorry pass.
Why? I shall explain below .
The reason why my blogpost yesterday was written as a scathing criticism of the way that the TTD and the AP Govt. all these years have been fooling people, leading them to believe that the Tirupati Laddoos they were buying was genuine “bhagavath prasaadam”, is plainly this : It is a dishonest commercial enterprise that has been in operation for many years in the name of Lord Venkateshwara. It was thriving under every political dispensation that came to rule AP State no matter which political party or leader.
Lord Venkateshwara or Balaji is a powerful and popular deity all across India and the world . His very name and image (“naama svarupa”) evokes love, devotion, adulation, faith and hope in the minds of people . It is this irresistible “guna Visesha” or divine quality of attraction that has led to the TTD, acting in close concert with the AP political powers-that-happened-to-be, to exploit Sri Venkateshwara as a powerful and successful commercial brand.
Any product that can be sold in the vast religious consumer-market of India can be done simply by branding it in some way so as to associate it with Bhagavan Sri Balaji! All you need to do is stick the image of Venkateshwara on your shop billboard, or on your office stationery, or on your product-packaging … and voila! you can be sure it will sell like hot cakes (or ladddoos, in this case!) because it will attract large custom just as surely as honey attracts swarms of bees.
The TTD today has built an exact plaster-of-Paris replica of the Deity in Tirumala and his shrine down below in a separate spot called Alipiri or at the foothills of the Seven Hills Abode of Sri Venkateshwara. This little imitation temple has been designated as “Naamoona Srinivasa Temple”. https://www.facebook.com/share/v/8S7Xi2q4WAxK4dRt/?mibextid=qDwCgo. It attracts today almost as many pilgrims as there are Worshippers going to the main temple atop the Hills. This crypto-shrine too is a money-spinner !
In Chennai T.Nagar central, the TTD local office got erected a small Venkateshwara shrine on its premises many years ago and installed a plaster-of-Paris idol there too . Today people flock there in the thousands to have “ersatz Darshan” of the Lord Almighty !
Both the above ersatz shrines, which are wonderful money-spinners for the TTD, have underdone no Agama sastra-prescribed sanctification or consecration. They too are make-believe temple deities as much as the Tirupati laddoo is make-believe “bhagavath prasaadam”.
So thus, the long and short of it all is only this: “Brand Venkateshwara” is being commercially and cynically exploited to make fortunes out of spurious, ersatz laddoo as much as it is being done via ersatz Balaji shrines erected elsewhere outside Tirumala. The real meaning of the word “prasaadam” means that it is the remains of victuals offered to a Deity. This ought to be distributed to Worshippers and Devotees and received by them without any kind of price-tag , explicit or implicit, attached to it.
Which is precisely the reason why in my blog yesterday, I have suggested that this blatant, dishonest commercial exploitation of the religious sentiments and gullibility of the Hindu pilgrim must forthwith be stopped permanently. I am not at all suggesting that the sale of Tirupati laddoos must be ended. I’m only calling for it to be branded and sold not as “bhagavath prasaadam” but as “Tirumala Annadaana bakshanam”.
In other words, I’m saying that the people/pilgrims must not be misled or fooled into believing that the laddoo they take home is sacred victual that has been offered to God. They should know that it is merely confection “made in Tirumala”.
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The other important reason why I wrote my blog yesterday is this :
It’s not just the laddoos that are adulterated with lard etc…
I don’t hear anyone talking about the equally possible use of the same adulterated ghee to make other temple “prasaadam”, such as “venn Pongal” , “chakkarai Pongal”, “akkaaravadasall”, “pulighorai” etc. We are all now left feeling very uneasy and suspicious about such “prasaadam” too.
In this situation, I cannot help imagining to myself what the fallout might have turned out to be in this country if lard had been found to have been used in biriyani served at a Ramzan iftar party in the Jama Masjid ? Or if methanol instead of wine were to have been found mixed with the Eucharist at a Sunday Mass church service ? Wouldn’t the whole world, the entire Islamic or Christian International community, have erupted into screaming condemnation of the Indian State for its anti-minorityism and disregard for religious rights and freedoms? But in the case of Hindu temples controlled and administered by the State, anything of this sordid sort happens …it’s ok , no big deal, it’s a secular country, after all, isn’t it ?
It’s high time our Hindu temples and religious institutions are rescued from the clutches of these politicians and governments/HR&CE Commissioners who are ruining them all slowly but surely.
The Hindus of India continue to be in deep slumber. Or else mired in deep apathy. They seem to have no pride, no self-esteem, no clue at all that there exists such a thing called national identity.
God only can save us .
Sudarshan Madabushi
As U said both political parties are responsible for the present state of affairs in TTD . No need to blow the matter to this extent . Simply politicised . Till now no clarity what happened exactly , whether the GHEE in question was used or not . News channels are spinning their own stories as usual . The TTD administration has gone to dogs . It has unnecessarily got involved in too many activities because of political pressures forgetting that its main concentration should be on the Srivari temple .
I am not blowing it up . It’s the media and politicians and cinema stars who are blowing it up .
I’m only expressing outrage on behalf of devotees of Lord Srinivasa . 🙏