The row over animal fat allegedly being used to make the famed Tirupati laddoos reached the Supreme Court on Friday with a lawyer filing a petition alleging that the act violates fundamental Hindu religious customs and deeply hurts the sentiments of countless devotees who consider the ‘prasad’ a sacred blessing.
The petitioner has said the alleged presence of animal fat in the laddoos is symptomatic of larger systemic issues in temple administration and has called for the sanctity of Hindu religious practices being protected.
The controversy began after Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu said on Wednesday that animal fat was used to make the sought-after laddoos given as ‘prasad’ by the Sri Venkateswara Temple in Tirupati under the previous YSR Congress government. The Andhra government then cited a report by a Gujarat laboratory which stated that the ghee used in the laddoos contained traces of beef tallow, fish oil, and lard (pig fat).
