Dismissing all the allegations, Gujarat-based dairy giant Amul denied all claims stating it never sold ghee to the Tirupati temple. The company took a quick route to the court after posts came on social media targeting the brand as part of selling low-quality ghee that it claimed was used in preparing prasadam laddoos. According to its statement, the company said such claims were baseless and carried out all this just to defame the brand.
What is Tirupati Laddoo?It refers to the holy Prasadam that is offered by the devotees at Sri Venkateshwara temple and is made with ghee, rice flour, besan, cashews, almonds, milk, and ghee. You will be surprised to know that the holy prasadam has a 300-year-old history and was prepared by Kalyanam Iyengar, who was a connoisseur of fine arts.
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How did it all start?
The news broke out after the former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Chandrababu Naidu, ordered laboratory test for the ghee being used for preparing Tirupati laddoos, and the findings included that the laddoos were being made with foreign fats such as lard (clarified pig fat), tallow (beef fat), fish oil, linseed, rapeseed, coconut and cottonseed oils.
Tirumala Temple Trust confirms animal fat in ghee
But this issue took a thrilling turn when the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), the temple trust, which looks after the shrine, endorsed Naidu’s claim. This lab report, based on ghee samples received from the trust, has been doing the rounds among Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP) members. However, the Andhra Pradesh government hasn’t come out in the open with their findings yet.
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As per the news reports available, the board is going to blacklist a contractor dealing with supplies of adulterated ghee. The temple trust won’t take any violation of the standards and particularly not when it comes to prasadam, as the element is crucial to religious procedures.
Union Health Ministry steps in
The Union Health Ministry has also entered the fray and written to Naidu, asking him for a full report about the allegations of adulterated ghee in the Tirupati laddoos. As the controversy assumes national proportions, most people are awaiting an official statement from the Andhra Pradesh government about the genuineness of the lab report and what course they intend to pursue on the matter going forward.
Most of the people don’t know, but Tirupati Laddoo which is originally called ‘Dittam’ has undergone 6 modifications till now ever since it was first created by Kalyanam Iyengar 300 years ago.
As per the current developments in this news, ‘purification rituals’ have taken place at the Tirupati Temple and the temple is now using Nandini ghee for the prasadam.
(Thumb image courtesy: Canva)