Tirumala: TTD to purchase rice directly from millers association

Tirumala : The TTD has decided to purchase rice directly from the Rice Millers Association as part of its efforts to enhance taste and quality of Annaprasadam being provided to pilgrims at Tirumala, TTD EO AV Dharma Reddy said.

The TTD EO attended to 28 pilgrim callers from different States during the live phone-in programme, Dial your EO, held at Annamayya Bhavan at Tirumala on Friday. Responding to the feedback given by one of the callers, Krishna from Anakapalli, who sought the EO to enhance the taste of Annaprasadams being served at the Annaprasadam complex at Tirumala, the EO said that the TTD Board has approved to purchase rice from the Rice Millers’ Association and it will be implemented soon.

When a caller Shankar Goud from Hyderabad appealed to the EO to release the quota of Vaikuntha Ekadasi Dwara Darshan during the first week of September, the EO said the quota will be released along with the December online darshan quota. Pilgrims Rajaram from Rajamundry and Vinata from Hyderabad suggested to the EO to resume the offline quota for senior citizens to which the EO replied that due to the availability of limited number of tokens for senior citizens and physically challenged darshan, it is not possible to release offline. Similarly, the EO also told Chakravarty from Tanuku that it is the same with respect to Angapradakshinam tokens also. Answering a query on improvement of maintenance of rooms in Astavinayaka Rest House, the EO said very soon the rooms will be reformed and the rent of 55 rooms in the rest house will be brought down to Rs 150 and will be allotted to common pilgrims. He said 45 rooms in Vikas Rest House will be transformed into AC rooms with geyser facilities.

When a caller Sasi from Telangana State suggested to EO to construct a flyover in view of the movement of wild animals on the Alipiri footpath route, the EO replied the area falls under the jurisdiction of the reserve forest area and as per the Wild Life Act and norms it is not possible to do any sort of constructions without the clearance from Wild Life Authorities.

“We are ready to provide any sort of financial support as per the suggestions by the officials concerned provided if they give permissions,” he maintained.

When Govinda Swamy from Dharmagiri suggested to the EO to enhance the quality of laddus which used to be four decades ago and reduce the quantity of sugar candies as many are diabetic nowadays, the EO said, 40 years ago, the production of laddus was 2,000 per day and today it is 5 lakh per day. However, the Dittam (ingredients measurements) is fixed and being prepared by Sri Vaishnava Brahmins since centuries. “But we keep on trying to enhance the taste of laddu prasadams,” he added. Prasad from Nellore sought EO to increase the number of Telugu

Panchangam calendars to which he said he would consider the possibility. Rishi from Rajamundry suggested to the EO to use Desi cow products for making Prasadams and Kainkaryams to which he said already, the TTD has been doing the same for the past a few years.

“We have already gathered 200 Desi cows from across the country and another 200-300 will be added soon. On a day it requires 60 kg of ghee out of which 30 kilos are used for making Naivedya Annaprasadams and the remaining 30 kilos for Deeparadhana.

Basavaraju from Bellary sought EO to reintroduce 3-day, 4-day slots in Srivari Seva voluntary service to which EO said, the existing 7-day slot is a better one to offer services to the pilgrims in a complete way.

Kamala Sekhar from Bengaluru suggested to the EO to grind cardamom along with sugar candies and mix the powder in laddus to enhance the taste. In his reply, the EO said he wouldl discuss with the Sri Vaishnava Brahmins, who are experts in laddu preparation since several centuries to look into the possibilities. TTD officials were present.