TIRUPATI: Appreciating the services of vegetable donors to the millions of devotees of Sri Venkateswara Swamy, TTD additional EO AV Dharma Reddy urged the former to encourage natural farming and grow chemical-free vegetables.
Speaking to them at Annamaiah Bhavan in Tirumala on Thursday, the official extended gratitude to all the 14 vegetable donors who hail from Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karanataka, and have been donating vegetables worth lakhs of rupees every month to Mathrusri Tarigonda Vengamamba Annaprasadam Complex (MTVAC), at Tirumala without interruption since 2004.
The practice of honouring the donors for their contributions once a year before the annual brahmotsavams at Tirumala by the TTD commenced in 2014.The TTD has now decided to serve more varieties of curries to the visiting pilgrims, with separate menus for morning and evening meals. Dharma Reddy asked the donors to supply vegetables as per the menu requested by the Annaprasadam wing of the TTD. As of today, 90 units are being prepared per day at MTVAC (one unit equals to servings for 250 pilgrims).
To meet this requirement, the Annaparasadam wing requires 48 kgs of each vegetable per unit. The vegetable donors also expressed their immense pleasure for being a part of the massive service of Annaprasadam activity of TTD for the past one-and-a-half decade and readily agreed to supply the vegetables as per TTD’s requirement.They also assured that they would encourage organic cultivation using desi cow products. As sought by Additional EO, they also agreed up to supply 500 bananas each day to SRIVANI Trust.
SVBC Kannada channel launch soon
TTD EO Dr KS Jawahar Reddy on Thursday said Sri Venkateswara Bhakti Channel (SVBC) in Kannada will be launched in October. Jawahar Reddy visited the Sri Venkateswara temple at Vaiyyalikaval in Bengaluru, where he was received with Purna Kumbha honours and rendered Veda Ashirvachanam. The EO and SVBC CEO Suresh Kumar visited the premises of SVBC Kannada channel SVBC CEO was asked to prepare programmes on sankeertans of Saint Purandara Dasa for the channel launch
Deadline for admissions extended
The TTD has extended the deadline to apply for admissions to its Veda pathashalas for the 2021-22 academic year, till September 15. Earlier, the TTD had invited applications from eligible candidates who have completed traditional thread ceremony and relevant educational qualifications. Details can be found at www.tirumala.org.