Lord Vishnu takes birth to protect dharma: Ramana
TIRUMALA: A day after the government reinstated retired priests belonging to the Mirasi families, Tirumala temple Chief Priest AV Ramana Deekshitulu equated the reinstatement of traditional archaka families to “saving Dharma by Lord Vishnu”. “Whenever there is a threat to Dharma, Lord Vishnu takes birth to protect it,’’ Deekshitulu said.
Speaking to the media at the Archaka Bhavan on Sunday afternoon, Ramana Deekshitulu thanked Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and TTD Chairman YV Subba Reddy on behalf of all the hereditary priests, who were taken back into the TTD fold.“More than 12 hereditary priests, who dedicated their entire lives in the service of the Lord, were forced to retire due to the controversial decision of the previous regime,” he said.
In May 2018, the TTD, during the TDP rule, fixed the retirement age for the temple priests, forcing the then Tirumala temple chief priest Ramana Deekshitulu and other hereditary priests to retire. Subsequently, hereditary priests associated with the Govindaraja Swamy temple and Sri Padmavathi Ammavari temple were also forced to retire on age grounds.
Though the hereditary priests moved the Andhra Pradesh High Court, which directed the TTD to reinstate them with immediate effect, the temple body kept the High Court order in abeyance since 2018.Then Leader of the Opposition YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had promised to restore the hereditary priests if the YSRC was voted to power. After coming to power, the Jagan government passed GO No. 76 to restore the hereditary rights of priests in October 2019, but the order could not be implemented in total due to various reasons.
At first, Ramana Deekshitulu was appointed as Agama advisor and honorary chief priest. Later, the TTD management issued orders reinstating all the hereditary priests who were forcibly retired since 2018 and former Tirumala temple chief priest Dr AV Ramana Deekshitulu got back his post.
Meanwhile, hereditary priests of Lord Venkateswara temple in Tirumala, Sri Govindaraja Swamy temple in Tirupati and Sri Padmavathi Ammavari temple in Tiruchanur thanked Jagan after the TTD issued fresh orders reinstating them.