Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister and Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan on Saturday announced that he will undertake an 11-day penance to propitiate Lord Venkateswara for the alleged adulteration of animal fats in Tirupati laddus.
The actor-politician said he will begin the ritualistic penance from Sunday at Sri Dasavatara Venkateswara Swamy temple at Namburu in Guntur district.
In a post on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter), the actor-politician said, “After continuing the initiation for 11 days, I will visit Tirumala Sri Venkateswara Swamy. I beg ‘God…give me the power to wash away the sins committed by past rulers against you.”
He appealed to the deity to grant him the power to do the ritualistic sanitisation to undo the alleged sins committed by the erstwhile YSRCP government. He added that he is praying for the strength to carry out a ritual purification, aimed at addressing the alleged wrongdoings by the previous YSRCP government.
The claims originated from Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who, during a recent NDA meeting, accused the former YSRCP government of using low-quality ingredients, including animal fats, in the preparation of the much-loved Tirupati laddus. These allegations have triggered widespread public outrage.
Kalyan also slammed the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), questioning how its employees and board members could have been unaware of such irregularities. TTD is responsible for managing the revered Sri Venkateswara temple in Tirupati.
Meanwhile, Pawan Kalyan called for the formation of a ‘Sanatana Dharma Rakshana Board’ on Friday amid a massive controversy over alleged ‘animal fat’ being found in the Tirupati temple laddus.
In a post on X, Pawan Kalyan said, “…the time has come to constitute a ‘Sanatana Dharma Rakshana Board’ at a National level to look into all the issues related to temples in the entire Bharath.”
“I think we all should come together to put an end to the desecration of ‘Sanathana Dharma’ in anyform,” he added. Pawan Kalyan said he was “deeply disturbed” by these findings and stated that the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams Board (TTD) which was constituted by the YCP government was at fault.
He also promised to ensure stringent action against those involved, including the need for discussions by policymakers, citizens, the judiciary and more about religious desecration, in the form of a ‘Sanatana Dharma Rakshana Board’ at the national level.
“This throws light on many issues surrounding desecration of temples, its land issues and other dharmic practices,” said Kalyan.