TTD denies finger offering by man to Lord Venkateswara

Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) today denied media reports that a devotee from Karnataka had cut off his finger as an offering at Lord Venkateswara shrine after Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were granted bail in the National Herald case.

Chinnamgari Ramana, Deputy Executive Officer of the TTD, which manages the hill shrine, told PTI that the ancient hill temple has never had such "ugly offering" in its history.

"Media reports of the cut finger being dropped in the sacred hundi of the over
2000-year-old richest hill temple in the country by a man hailing from Ramanagaram near Bangalore recently is completely baseless," he said.

The perception of such acts and such reports was not correct as that would hurt the sentiments of millions of devotees across the world, he said.

Ramana pointed out that several surveillance cameras record the practise of the seven-feet hundi being emptied at least thrice daily for segregation, counting and recording of offerings, including huge cash and gold ornaments by devotees.

Suresh had claimed yesterday in Bengaluru that he had been to Tirupati on December 25 and had chopped off his little finger and dropped it in the hundi as a token of gratitude after the two Congress leaders were granted bail on December 19.

He claimed that as soon as the news was brought to the notice of Congress leader and state Housing Minster M H Ambareesh, he was immediately summoned to his house on Saturday and was given the epithet of 'Congress Eklavya.'

The man stated that he got himself treated in a hospital adjacent to the temple soon after he cut off his finger.