KENDRAPARA: In the thick of Tirupati laddu controversy, the priests of Baladevjew temple in Kendrapara district on Friday alleged use of adulterated ghee to prepare prasad and bhog in the shrine.
Sarat Patri, one of the priests of the temple stumbled upon adulterated ghee tins in the temple kitchen and raised the issue before the temple managing committee The temple authorities, a few days back, had bought six tins of Omfed ghee to prepare bhog at the temple during Navaratri. But the cooks complained of an unpleasant odour emanating from the ghee. They also alleged that the ghee tasted sour, said Patri.
Other priests and cooks of the temple also raised apprehensions on the purity of the ghee. Executive officer of Baladevjew managing committee Balabhadra Patri said, “Omfed supplied substandard ghee to the temple and we returned all the tins to its branch office at Kendrapara on Friday.”
However, marketing in-charge of Omfed, Kendrapara Lingaraj Parida said the ghee supplied by the milk cooperative to the temple smelled foul due to prolonged exposure to moisture and heat. Hence, we decided to supply ghee to the temples with manufacturing and expiry dates on the tins.” Niranjan Mishra, a priest said preparation of Rasabali, which was granted GI tag, with the adulterated ghee will bring a bad name to the district.