TIRUPATI, INDIA, July 17, 2006: The controversial government order issued by the Andrha Pradesh State Government reportedly restricting the jurisdiction of the Tirumala Temple (TTD) to only 4 square miles around the shrine snowballed into such a major controversy that the sadhus and saints, and a number of pro-active Hindu organizations on Saturday converged in Tirupati to demand the immediate withdrawal of the contentious order. The row began with apprehension among devotees and various Hindu organizations that in the wake of the G.O., Tirumala would no longer remain the sacred ‘Seven Hills’ but would have to be content with only two hills as the remaining five would go out of its purview. A ‘Sankallpa Diwas’ (the day to take a pledge) was held under the banner of the Tirumala Tirupati Samrakashna Samithi with the Swamiji of Pejawar Mutt, Udipi to protest against the G.O. The meet also expressed its deep concern over the reported increase in Christian evangelical activities at Tirumala and Tirupati. The meet cited a High Court ruling which said “the rights of Tirumala-Tirupati vest with Lord Venkateswara himself and the trust board and the E.O. are only trustees of the property. None can take any measures violating the right. All the seven hills fall under Tirumala.” (W.P.No:25146 OF 1996-97 (2) ald 59 (db) DT.7.9.96.
Besides Pejawar Swamiji, the summit was attended by Sri Dayananda Saraswati, founder of the Arsha Vidya Peetham, Varada Ramanuja Jeeyar from Uttar Pradesh and members of the fact finding committee. The meeting adopted five major resolutions and set August 9 as the deadline for the Government/TTD to remove all ‘distortions’ apparently referring to the ‘Ayodhya Rath Yatra.” The first resolution wants the State Government to enact a new law declaring that Tirumala meant ‘Seven Hills’ after duly rectifying the ‘flaw’ in its earlier G.O. The second resolution called upon the TTD to dismiss all non-Hindu staff members from Tirumala as, under the TTD manual, only Hindus should be appointed in the TTD. The meet expressed anguish that as many as 40 Christians posted as TTD employees were allegedly celebrating their festivals and religious activities on the hills. The meet criticized the State Government’s move to convert Tirupati/Tirumala into a tourist destination. It also adopted a resolution demanding a ban on evangelical activities in the TTD-run educational and medical institutions.