Breaking of coconuts by some unknown devotees is suspected to be the reason for the damage of a toe of the Lord Venkateswara at the ‘Srivari Padalu’ on the Tirumala hills. A day after the incident came to light, a patch work was done and security posted at the place.TTD Joint Executive officer K S Sreenivasa Raju, Chief Vigilance and Security Officer G V G Ashok Kumar and other officials on Sunday inspected the broken toe and monitored the security apparatus at the place. They ruled out any sabotage behind the broken toe.
“Some devotees may have broken coconut on the toe of the Lord Venkateswara. Breaking of coconuts near the ‘Srivari Padalu’ is prohibited and the devotees should know about it,’’ Raju said.
Srivari Padalu, some 5 km from the main temple on the Tirumala hills, is considered as the place where Lord Venkateswara first set his foot when he came down from Vaikuntam.Hundreds of devotees visit the place to offer prayers. Devotees touch the feet of the Lord Venkateswara at the place. A separate place at the starting of the steps to reach the ‘padalu’ was designated to break coconuts but due to lack of proper vigilance by the TTD officials, devotees sometimes break the coconuts on the ‘padalu’. It was decided to post security at the place and strictly prohibit breaking of coconuts on the ‘Srivari Padalu’ in future.
Meanwhile, BJP official spokesperson G Bhanu Prakash Reddy demanded a probe into the incident. “It should be brought into light whether there was sabotage behind the incident,’’ he said and asked the TTD to restore the toe after taking the opinion of agama pundits.