New Tirupati Temple Board Holds First Meeting Amid Laddoo Row

The newly constituted Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Trust Board held its first meeting on Monday at Annamaiah Bhavan in Tirumala.

According to sources, the meeting is scheduled to cover 80 agenda items, with TTD Chairman BR Naidu set to announce the decisions made later in the afternoon. Some members attended the meeting virtually.

Earlier this month, BR Naidu took the oath as the 54th Chairman of the TTD Board of Trustees. The ceremony took place at the Tirumala Sri Venkateswara Temple, where TTD Executive Officer Shyamala Rao administered the oath. After the ceremony, Mr Naidu had a darshan of Varaha Swamy and then visited the temple from the Vaikuntham Queue Complex. After his visit to Lord Venkateswara, priests offered blessings with Vedic chants at the Ranganayakula Mandapam.

Mr Naidu expressed his intention to serve the temple with dedication and selflessness. His appointment follows the controversy surrounding Tirupati Prasadam, which arose last month. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu accused the previous YSRCP government of using substandard ingredients, including animal fat, in the preparation of Tirupati laddus.

To address these allegations, the Supreme Court intervened on October 4, setting up an independent Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the use of animal fat in the laddus. The court emphasized that " sentiments of crores of devotees across the world are involved with Tirumala prasadam," and added, "We don't want this to turn into political drama." The SIT will include two officers from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), two from the Andhra Pradesh police, and a senior official from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).

The court had then stated that the new SIT will be supervised by the CBI director and replace the previous state government-appointed team.