CM Chandrababu Naidu has raised the issue regarding Prasad (Laddus) of Tirupati Balaji Temple in Andhra Pradesh. The CM claimed that adulteration of fish oil and animal fat was found in the ghee used to prepare laddu prasad. Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam said that the blacklisted suppliers of adulterated ghee were given the contract during the Jagan Mohan government. After this incident, an atmosphere of fear prevailed among the devotees of major temples across the country. Let’s see how Prasad is made in the big temples of the country. What a focus on purity there.
After the Tirupati temple, the Shirdi Sai Baba Temple’s Laddoo Prasad is very famous among devotees. Around 650 tonnes of Laddoo Prasad are distributed here every year on a “no profit, no loss” basis, while 350 tonnes of Laddoo Prasad are distributed free of charge to more than 2 crore devotees throughout the year. The CEO of Saibaba Temple Trust claims to follow FSSAI norms and use Indian ghee and dry fruits in making Laddoo Prasad.
Goraksh Gadilkar, CEO of Shirdi Saibaba Temple Trust, said that Sai devotees are given free Bundi prasad after darshan. Two crore devotees come every year. He takes 50 grams of Prasad. While a packet of Rs 20 is also given to the devotees, it contains 2 laddus. It is distributed on a “no profit no loss” basis. On this basis 650 tonnes of Laddus Prasad are sold every year. Hygiene is maintained while making laddus. All conditions of FSSAI are followed. Pure cow ghee, cardamom and cardamom are used in the laddu.
The Prasad in Siddhivinayak temple is made in this way.
After the uproar over the laddus prasad incident at the Tirupati Balaji temple, a debate has broken out at major temples across the country: has it time to take temples out of government control? Now let’s talk about the famous Siddhi Vinayak temple in Mumbai. For many years, laddus and coconut prasads have been made here for devotees. Veena Patil, an official at the temple trust, talks about the purity of these prasads and the materials used to make them.
Veena Patil told us that we are very particular about the purity of the prasad. There is no compromise on quality. Cow ghee is used in the laddu prasad. Gram flour, cardamom powder and cashew raisins are used in it. Our employees make the laddus by hand and the packaging is done by machines. The goods are purchased through e-tendering but our team of experts goes there for complete inspection. Samples are taken first and the goods are purchased only after the samples are cleared. He told us that we produce 50,000 laddus every day. During festivals, the number of people goes up to 70,000 laddus per day.
Kashi Vishwanath Temple focuses on purity
Devotees buy around a thousand kilograms of Mahaprasad, or Laddus, every day from the Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi. The Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust has given the responsibility of supplying laddus to two suppliers. After the Tirupati Prasad controversy broke out, a team of Vishwanath temple officials and employees went to the vendors’ premises, where the laddus were made, to check.
During the preparation of the laddus, Shambhu Sharan Singh, SDM of Kashi Vishwanath Temple, came to check the quality, purity and sanctity. He checked the entire process of making the laddus from start to finish. He told reporters that the quality of the temple offerings is checked by the food department so that the quality is guaranteed. The assay report of the ghee has been done and no abnormalities have been found, but it is being sampled again to ensure satisfaction. He told us that the prasad offered to Baba Vishwanath ji is prepared only by the temple priests. Apart from this, tie-ups are also being made with vendors to provide prasad to the devotees.
“We pay a lot of attention to quality, purity and sanctity,” said vendor Ashok Halwai. Even the workers take care of their diet; they don’t even eat garlic, onions or intoxicants themselves. The workers wear masks while making laddus. Only Sanatanis are engaged in making laddus.
How is the Navedyam Prasad made at Mahavir Temple in Patna?
Aaj Tak’s team reached the factory at Mahavir Temple in Patna where thousands of kgs of Navedyam Prasad are produced every day. The factory produces 30 quintals of laddus at a time. Sheshadreya, the factory manager, told us that laddus are made here every day. A maximum of 80 quintals of laddus are produced on Tuesdays. On the rest of the days, 30 quintals of laddus are prepared. We make laddus while keeping full consideration of purity. The manager told us that laddus are made here using Nandani ghee. The temple president Kishore Kunal instructed to make Navedyam using this ghee. The manager told us that we don’t buy gram flour from outside here to make laddus. Considering purity, we buy gram dal and grind it in our mill to prepare gram flour. After preparing gram flour, the boondi is filtered in ghee. Then sugar syrup is prepared in a machine. After mixing, Navedyam is hand-formed into the shape of laddu.
This is the way Prasad is made in the Mahakaleshwar temple in Ujjain.
The Bhog Prasad offered to Lord Shri Mahakaleshwar in Ujjain is of high quality and pure quality, while the Laddus Prasad offered to the devotees is prepared with purity under the supervision of the authorities. To maintain the purity of the laddus, the temple management committee buys gram dal instead of gram flour and grinds it in the mill installed in the Prasad Bhawan itself. The gram flour prepared here is used for the Prasad. Apart from this, the temple committee buys rava, cashew nuts and raisins only after checking the quality. To maintain the purity of the Prasad, the temple committee uses Ghee Sanchi from the government dairy or the same brand of Ghee Sanchi authorized by the Madhya Pradesh government. Dr. Piyush Tripathi, Assistant Administrator of Shri Mahakaleshwar Temple Management Committee, said that he has received many national awards for the purity of the Mahakaleshwar temple Prasad. As he passed the purity test, he was invited by Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Trust in Ayodhya to get information about Prasad, after which the team from Ujjain went to Ayodhya to provide information about the preparation of high-quality Laddus Prasad.
(Reporting – Sandeep Kulshrestha, Nitin, Aniket Kumar, Roshan Jaiswal, Dharam Dubey)
Follow us On Social Media Google News and Twitter/X
