Even as the controversy over adulteration of laddu prasadam of Lord Venkateshwara temple in Tirumala in Andhra Pradesh’s Tirupati district has kicked up a nation-wide rage, doubts are being expressed over the quality of prasadam being offered to deities in other temples in the state.
On Saturday, senior Telugu Desam Party leader and former minister Ganta Srinivas Rao raised suspicion over the quality of laddu prasadam in famous Appanna temple at Simhachalam in Visakhapatnam district, which is the most revered temple in the north coastal Andhra.
Ganta went to the kitchen of the Simhachalam temple and inspected the making of laddu there, besides enquiring about the quality of the ingredients. He expressed dissatisfaction over the smell of ghee being used in the making of laddus.
“The laddus are getting dried up quickly and are not giving the impression of being a quality product,” he said.
The former minister pointed out that in the past, Simhachalam temple authorities used to procure quality ghee from Visakhapatnam dairy at a cost of Rs 591 per kg.
“In the name of reverse tendering, the previous Jagan Mohan Reddy government started procuring ghee from other companies at a cost of Rs 391 per kg,” he said.
This has naturally reduced the quality of laddu being made in Simhachalam temple.
“At present, the cost of pure cow ghee in the open market is Rs 685 per kg. But for the last two years, the temple authorities have been procuring ghee from a UP-based company at Rs 391. How can we expect quality in it?” he asked.
On the controversy over Tirupati laddu, Ganta said the previous government had severely hurt the sentiments of the devotees.
The people would have to decide what kind of punishment they should give to the previous rulers, he said.
