Unfair to retain Ananthasayana as agama advisor: Tirumala temple chief priest AV Ramana Dikshitulu

In a letter to the TTD executive officer, Ramana Dikshitulu observed that he was the pradhana archaka and senior Vaikhanasa Agama advisor in the Srivari temple, but was forced to retire from service.
TTD head priest AV Ramana Dikshitulu (File photo| EPS)
TTD head priest AV Ramana Dikshitulu (File photo| EPS)

VIJAYAWADA: Honorary chief priest of Tirumala temple AV Ramana Dikshitulu, also Agama advisor to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), has sought clarification on the continuation of Ananthasayana Deekshitulu as Vaikhanasa Agama advisor in Srivari temple, despite the latter’s retirement. 

In a letter to the TTD executive officer, Ramana Dikshitulu observed that he was the pradhana archaka and senior Vaikhanasa Agama advisor in the Srivari temple, but was forced to retire from service by virtue of TTD Board’s resolution no. 50 dated May 16, 2018, after he attained the age of 65.  

"My tenure as the senior Vikhanasa Agama advisor was also seized by the TTD at the time of my retirement with immediate effect. However, Anantasayana Deekshithulu, a sambhavana archaka and Vaikhanasa Agama advisor, who retired on May 30, was retained as an agama advisor. Is he such an eminent figure and a great scholar that he needs to be continued as Vaikhansa Agama advisor of Tirumala even after his retirement?" Ramana Dikshitulu’s letter read.

He pointed out that Ananthasayana retired in a position that lets him draw pension equivalent to that of an attender. Stating that the current EO held the same position as now at the time of his retirement, Ramana Dikshitulu observed that the “difference in the treatment of the situations amounts to discrimination and partiality”. 

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