TIRUMALA: The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams Trust Board has dismissed Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar’s proposal to introduce a new VIP protocol for the daily first Harathi (Nithya Harathi) at the hill shrine.
TTD Chairman BR Naidu said age‑old rituals and scriptural customs cannot be altered by unilateral executive orders from a neighbouring state.
The row erupted after Shivakumar announced plans to reserve sanctum access during the morning ritual for Karnataka’s ministers, MLAs, judges and senior bureaucrats.
Calling the statement a ‘casual remark’ and ‘authoritative overreach’, the board stressed that Nithya Harathi is a non‑transferable privilege historically accorded to the Maharaja of Mysore.