TRS colour on Tirumala's Alipiri entrance causes row

Ahead of the annual Brahmotsavam of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala, the pink colour on the Alipiri arch, the main entrance of the seven hills created ripples in social circles.

The temple administration got the Sankhu (Vaishnavite symbol) and Chakra on the arch painted in light pink colour, which is the colour of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) party.

The issue acquired political colour as Andhra Pradesh chief minister, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy invited his Telangana counterpart and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) party president, K Chandrashekhar Rao for the grand event to be held from 29 September to 8 October.

The painting in pink does not comply with the temple Agama Sastra rules, according to experts. "Usually, the Sankhu is in white. We never saw it in pink colour. The colour does not suit there. They should have gone for the traditional white colour or, multicolour if they were looking to add beauty to it", said a Sanskrit scholar familiar with Agama Sastra, Dr.TPS Ramanujam.

However, sources in TTD said that instructions were already issued for the replacement of pink with a regular colour after the news became viral.

Bonhomie to the fore

The pink arch kicked off emotions in AP as Jagan has a close relationship with KCR since he took over the reins and it was painted pink to give a grand welcome to KCR.

Jagan handed over administrative buildings of AP in Hyderabad to the Telangana government and also conceded KCR's proposal to divert Godavari waters to Srisailam, benefitting parts of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

Jagan also accommodated seven people from Telangana in the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) trust board that manages the temple affairs. Most of them are close to KCR. There are eight members from Andhra Pradesh. Various Hindu groups have been asking Jagan to get reciprocated from Telangana for all his gestures.

Recently, KCR faced huge criticism from Hindu groups and political parties in Telangana over the inscription of his image and his government schemes on the pillars at the famous Yadadri temple. The CM directed the officials to remove them immediately.