CHENNAI, INDIA, May 15, 2018 (Deccan Chronicle): Chief Priest Ramana Deekshithulu of the Lord Venkateswara shrine at Tirumala on Tuesday accused the Tirumala-Tirupati Board (TTD) of serious malpractices and demanded CBI probe into its administration, which he said should be taken over by an expert panel appointed by the Union Government “to ensure that the Agama Sastra and other Vedas are strictly followed and the Lord’s divine belongings are not squandered away.” Addressing a select press conference at his son’s residence here, Ramana Deekshithulu said, “We are deeply anguished at what’s going on there. The TTD administered by IAS officers is dictated to by their political bosses. They are not even allowing the sevas (poojas) to be performed as per the Agama Sastra and are rushing us to finish them in quick time to please the visiting VIPs, including politicians and film stars”. Whereas earlier, the Board had only Hindu members on it, there were now complaints that even non-Hindus have been appointed.
The chief priest, known as Pradhana Archakulu and also the Agama Sastra adviser for the TTD, said until 1996, Lord Balaji and other deities in the shrine had been adored with the invaluable jewels gifted by kings and other wealthy devotees. The Pradhana Archakulu was in charge of the jewels. “He kept a record of all the valuables and made sure they were safe. But now we do not know where all those old jewels have gone as we find only the jewels given by the devotees subsequently are being used for adorning the Lord”, he said, demanding a “comprehensive CBI probe into the hundial collections, the jewels as well as the mode of administration at the TTD”.