Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams to give marching orders to 15 priests
TIRUPATI: The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Trust Board will serve marching orders to 15 more priests in line with its decision to set 65 years as the retirement age for archakas. Sources said the orders would be issued to the priests in a day or two. The move came on a day when the TTD removed chief priest AV Ramana Deekshitulu and three head priests — Srinivasa Deekshitulu, Narayana Deekshitulu and Narasimha Deekshitulu _ and appointed Venugopala Deekshitulu as the new chief priest.
Govindaraja Deekshitulu, Srinivasa Deekshitulu and Krishna Seshachala Deekshitulu have been named head priests. Interestingly, the newly-appointed chief priest and head priests also belong to the four families that follow a hereditary system of priesthood in Tirumala — Gollapalli, Tirupathamma, Peddinti and Paidipally respectively. Ramana Deekshitulu, who was supposed to conduct the morning rituals in the temple, was nowhere to be seen in Tirumala on Friday, forcing Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams authorities to put up the notice of his retirement outside his residence. The rituals were carried out by the newlyappointed priests.
Venugopala Deekshitulu and other head priests expressed happiness over their appointment and welcomed the decision to set a retirement age, saying it would give younger priests an opportunity to serve Lord Venkateswara.Venugopala Deekshitulu asserted that retirement does not mean senior priests would be barred from the temple. “Their advice and expertise will be honoured,” he said. TTD Agama advisor Sundaravadana Bhattacharya maintained that everything was happening as per the traditions of the temple.
Meanwhile, Ramana Deekshitulu went to New Delhi. Though it is not clear if he was on a personal visit, the former chief priest spoke to the media there and levelled more allegations at the TTD.
He recalled that a platinum necklace embedded with a pink diamond was donated to the Lord during the Garuda Seva in 2001 but that the TTD officials later claimed in the records that “the diamond broke into pieces due to coins thrown at the deity by devotees.” He said, “They claimed in the records that the diamond was broken and lost. Recently, I read a news report that a pink diamond was auctioned in Geneva for Rs 500 crore. It is a lie to say that the diamond broke because of coins thrown by the devotees.”
He further said the temple potu (kitchen) was closed for 25 days from December 8 last year in violation of Agama Sastras. “The kitchen was in the worst possible condition. It looked like as if someone dug it up to hunt for treasure dating back to the Pallavas and Cholas. I asked the Executive Officer about it several times but he feigned ignorance. Something like that can never happen with the EO’s knowledge,” he alleged.
Earlier, the TTD sought legal opinion over the board’s decision on the retirement age of priests. Sources said a communication from the Endowments Department on the same issue was received by the TTD late on Thursday night following which the trust board top brass held a meeting and decided to send home Ramana Deekshitulu and three other head priests.
Sources said officials were apprehensive that the Supreme Court may take suo motu cognizance of a representation sent by Ramana Deekshitulu to the Chief Justice of India. It may be recalled that Ramana Deekshitulu has decided to take legal recourse and challenge the TTD diktat in the court. The buzz in Tirumala is that differences between IAS officers in the TTD and Ramana Deeshithulu culminated in the latter’s removal. His press conference in Chennai on May 15 alleging irregularities in the TDD was the last straw.
When contacted, Special Chief Secretary (Endowments Revenue) Manmohan Singh maintained that the sequence of events was “as per service rules”. The move has drawn flak from the YSRC and the BJP. YSRC leaders Vasireddy Padma and Vellampalli Srinivas alleged on Friday that the TDP government had orchestrated the removal of the chief priest for having blown the whistle on irregularities in the temple body and dared the TDP to initiate a CBI inquiry into the allegations levelled by him.
BJP state secretary Suresh Reddy too demanded an inquiry into the allegations made by Ramana Deekshitulu.