Several temple authorities across Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj have advised devotees to bring alternatives such as dry fruits and coconut instead of sweets, news agency PTI reported on Thursday. The move comes amid concerns over ‘purity’ of offerings after adulterated ghee with animal fat was allegedly used to make laddus in Tirupati temple.
Prominent temples which have enforced these restrictions are Alop Shankari Devi, Bade Hanuman temple, Mankameshwar temple and Lalita Devi temple among others.
Shiv Murat Mishra, the chief priest of the famous Lalita Devi temple, 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 added that plans were underway to open shops inside temple premises where ‘pure’ sweets will be made available to the devotees.
Mahant Shridharanand Brahmachari Ji Maharaj of the Mankameshwar temple said they have written to the district magistrate to test the ‘laddu-peda’ being sold outside the temple. “Until the purity of the sweets is clear in the investigation, they will not be allowed to be offered in the temple. Anyway, we believe in fruits more than sweets,” he told PTI.
After the controversy in Tirupati, the Mankameshwar temple has also banned devotees from bringing their own prasad as offerings to the deity. It also plans to conduct quality checks and potentially establish its own testing facilities.
Bade Hanuman temple also plans to make ‘sacred’ offerings inside temple premises. “After the construction of the corridor of the temple is completed, the temple management itself will prepare ‘laddu-peda’ prasad for the Shri Bade Hanuman temple,” said Mahant Balbir Giri Ji Maharaj, the patron of the temple.
SIT to probe Tirupati Laddu row
The Andhra Pradesh government appointed senior IPS officer Sarvashresth Tripathi as the head of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Tuesday to probe the alleged adulteration of ghee used in making the famous Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) temple laddu prasadam.
SIT will comprise two more senior IPS officers – Visakhapatnam range deputy inspector general of police Gopinath Jetty and Kadapa district superintendent of police Harshavardhan Raju.
