Outrage in India prompts inquiry into use of animal fat in Tirupati temple laddus

AN INVESTIGATION has been announced into the alleged use of animal fat in laddus offered at one of India’s richest temples.

The chief minister of the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, N Chandrababu Naidu, said last Sunday (22) people’s sentiments were hurt after revelations that beef tallow, pig fat and fish oil were allegedly used to make laddus at the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, where Lord Balaji is worshipped.

“An inspector general level or above officer-manned SIT (Special Investigation Team) will be formed. It will probe all the reasons, the misuse of power and give a report to the government. The government will take stringent action to avoid recurrences (laddu adulteration), there is no compromise,” Naidu said.

He blamed the previous state administration for the malpractice, saying several procedures to procure ghee, a key ingredient in making the laddus, by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) were altered when it was in power.

A public interest litigation (PIL) was also filed in the Supreme Court, as news about the alleged contamination of laddus made national headlines last week.

On Monday (23), a four-hour purification ritual was carried out at the temple. Nearly 10 million laddus are sold at the place of worship every month, shared by visiting devotees among their families and friends.

Temple priests were seen sprinkling holy water in the kitchen where the laddus are prepared and on the ingredients, which include jaggery syrup, almonds, cashew nuts and raisins.

“Henceforth, the laddu prasadams are free from doshas (flaws) and the devotees can leave aside their doubts if any,” the TTD said in the press release.

Meanwhile, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has initiated action against AR Diary Food Private Limited over alleged contravention of safety, sources said.

With a vast number of devotees visiting the temple daily, its collections make it among the richest shrines in India.

In July it was reported collections at the temple were `3 billion (£26.8bn) in the first quarter of the current financial year.

When the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, north India, was inaugurated in January, TTD authorities dispatched more than 100,000 laddus via a cargo plane.

LV Subrahmanyam, a former chief secretary of Andhra Pradesh and also a former executive officer of the TTD, said the laddu has a history of 500 years. There is believed to be a reference to the laddu in 1480, as per some temple inscriptions.

More than a decade ago, the Tirupati laddu was also bestowed with a geographical indication.

Following the revelations, the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), an ideological organisation associated with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (led by prime minister Narendra Modi), said the Andhra Pradesh government should hand over the control and management of the temple to the Hindu society.

“Tirupati incident further strengthens the Vishva Hindu Parishad’s belief that government control over temples leads to entry of politics. Due to the appointment of non-Hindu officials there (in temples under government control), such impurities are deliberately introduced into the prasad (consecrated food),” VHP secretary general Bajrang Bagda said.

Several spiritual and religious leaders said the management of temples should be overseen by religious leaders and devotees. “Devotees consuming beef tallow in the temple prasadam is beyond disgusting. This is why temples should be run by devotees, not by government administrations. Where there is no devotion, there shall be no sanctity. Time the Hindu temples are run by devout Hindus, not by government administration,” Sadhguru, the founder of Isha Foundation, said on X.

As the laddu controversy raged, other temples began testing food samples.

The Uttar Pradesh Food Safety and Drug Administration collected 13 samples of items being sold as ‘prasadam’ outside the temples in Mathura and sent them for testing, an official has said.