Chief priest incurs TTD ire for Ambani meet

HYDERABAD: Tirumala chief priest Ramana Deekshitulu has landed in a controversy yet again over his meeting with Anant Ambani, 17-yearold son of Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani, at the latter’s guest house last week.The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) has taken a serious view of the matter.When Deekshitulu met Anant, the business tycoon’s son reportedly conveyed a desire to donate a white elephant to the temple.Interestingly, Anant also gave personal gifts to the chief priest: ash-colour parrots and 12 pairs of love birds.This is not the first time that Deekshitulu’s conduct has come into question nor is his longstanding relationship with the Ambani family a secret.Back in 2010, he paid a visit to the guest house in which Mukesh Ambani was staying and gave him veda aseervachanam.Taking objection to this, the then TTD executive officer I Y R Krishna Rao issued him a memo, which triggered a row between the priest and the temple administration.“It is time we ensure that everyone associated with the TTD is bound by the conduct rules governing the temple, whether it is the executive officer, priests or employees,” TTD executive officer LV Subramanyam told Express.As things stand, priests are not governed by the conduct rules nor do they strictly fall under the umbrella of the TTD Act.To cut a long story short, the state government had many years ago abolished the mirasidar (hereditary) system under which those hailing from some particular families came to occupy the chief priest’s position.As of now, there are three chief priests for the Tirumala temple.Challenging the government’s decision, the priests went to court and finally the Supreme Court upheld the abolition.The priests then filed an appeal but the apex court did not grant a stay of the government’s decision.Two years ago, the priests unofficially struck an agreement with the TTD to withdraw the appeal and come under the ambit of the TTD Act.But they have not done so far.“We have waited enough. Within a couple of weeks, we will be filing a petition in the Supreme Court seeking disposal of the appeal as we have a strong case.The abolition of the mirasidar system has already been upheld by the court.Once the case is disposed, we will be able to usher in reforms in regard to conduct rules and ensure that the sanctity of the temple is not breached by anyone including the priests,” Subramanyam said.