JOIN USAccording to sources Janardhana had so far donated nearly 32 gold crowns to nearly 29 deities in AP, Karnataka and also Tamil Nadu with Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) getting the largest number of three crowns . He had given a crown when the AP government allocated land for his Brahmani Steels’ project.
Second crown, when he procured the licences for OMC mines in the State and the third, when Y S Rajasekhara Reddy (YSR) won polls for the second term in 2009.
Devotees at Tirupati and Srikalahasti have protested against adorning of the deities with gold jewels and crowns presented by the mining baron and his family.
The devotees of Lord Venkateswara of Tirumala took out a protest rally demanding that the Rs 45-crore diamond-studded golden crown donated by Janardhana in June 2009 should not be used to decorate the idol. The crown is studded with 800 diamonds and a green emerald sourced from South Africa. It weighs around 30 kg and is 2.5 feet tall and took nine months to craft.
The crown is used to decorate the deity every second Friday and is one of the 93 selective jewels used on the day. But the TTD officials said they have nothing against any donation made by devotees. “We have no way to ascertain whether the gifts are from legally earned money or black money,” said L V Subramanyam, the executive officer of TTD .
The temple authorities also said Janardhana donated diamond-studded crown worth Rs 12 crore to goddess Gnana Prasoonambika Devi in Srikalahasti when Y S Jaganmohan Reddy won the Kadapa parliament seat in the May 2011 bye elections with a huge majority of over five lakh votes.
Besides the three feet crown donated by the Vijayanagara king Krishnadevaraya 450 years ago, there are nearly 27 such crowns including the one donated by Janardhana, industrialist Mukesh Ambani, actor Rajanikant and industrialist and MP Vijay Mallya.