Tirumala temple chief priest Ramana Deekshitulu on Tuesday held a press meet. Some of the excerpts from the press meet :
The authority to touch the Swami is valid only for the preists. We dedicated our lives to perform Swamiji’s Kainkaryam. But our traditional privileges had been snatched and they were being put to a lot of hardship.
The government made a big mistake by appointing officers who doesn’t have any knowledge about the temple. Officers are changing rules without consulting pundits.
TTD administration is changing rules for the comfort of politicians and cine stars. The authorities have no respect for traditions or practices as laid down by agamas (vedic scriptures defining traditions and rituals in the temple). This would result in devotees losing faith and lead to catastrophic incidents,” he warned.
Until 1996, we were custodians of the Lord’s jewellery and maintained up-to-date records of the inventory. But, in the 22 years since Andhra government took over the reins, not once has the jewellery count been done. Of late, only the newer jewellery is given to adorn the Lord. What happened to the ancient ornaments? An open audit should be done. Digital records should be made for transparency,” he said.
We sent a letter to The President, the Chief Minister, the Supreme Court and Chief Justice of the High Court demanding high level inquiry into the matter.
Temple funds are only for Swamivari service. But the ruling party MLC is asking for Rs 10 crore to built temple at her native village and TTD administration is also thinking to release the funds for the same.
We’ll fight agianst government against corruption in TTD for the protection of the Temple and the Lord. People want to extend their support for us in this fight.