Tirupati laddus distributed during pran pratishtha also: Ayodhya Ram temple chief priest amid prasad row

Amid the outrage over the alleged use of animal fat in ghee in the preparation of laddus at the famous Tirupati temple in Andhra Pradesh, the chief priest of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya Acharya Satyendra Das has claimed that the laddus from Tirupati were also distributed during the Ram Lalla consecration ceremony on January 22 this year as 'prasad' among the devotees.

''Laddus from Tirupati were distributed among the devotees during the Ram Lalla consecration ceremony,'' Das said. He, however, added that he had no idea about the quantity of the laddus distributed during the ceremony.

According to the sources, laddus weighing around three tonnes had been sent to Ayodhya by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), which managed the affairs of Sri Venkateswara Swami Temple popularly known as Tirupati Temple.

''It's very unfortunate and it has hurt the sentiments of the Hindus...it has also affected the reputation of Tirupati Temple,'' Acharya Satendra Das said.

The Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Khestra Trust, which oversaw the management of the Ram Temple, has not commented on the claims of the chief priest of the Ram Temple but said that cardamom seeds were distributed as prasad among the devotees who had attended the consecration ceremony.

A Trust official chose to evade a reply when queried whether Tirupati laddus had been distributed among the devotees during the consecration ceremony. ''It will not be proper for us to comment on this sensitive issue,'' remarked a Trust official in Ayodhya.

Around eight thousand people, including prime minister Narendra Modi and celebrities from the Bollywood and top industrialists, had attended the Ram Lala consecration ceremony.