Tirupati: TTD governing council sacks honorary chief priest Ramana Deekshitulu
The trust board took the drastic action after a lengthy discussion about the critical comments and allegations made by him in a video that went viral on social media
The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) on Monday (February 26) removed its controversial honorary chief priest Ramana Deekshitulu from the positions of honorary chief priest and Agama advisor.
The drastic action was taken after the trust board had a lengthy discussion about the critical comments and allegations made by him in a video that went viral on social media.
Since Deekshitulu raised baseless allegations against the top officials of the TTD administration and also made unsavoury remarks against the temple priests, the Jeeyar Swamijis, and the Ahobila math pontiff, the trust board made a unanimous decision to sack him from both positions.
He had also claimed that Christianity was spreading rapidly not only in Tirumala but also within the temple premises, given that the chief minister Jagan Mohan Reddy is a Christian. He further said that many staff members in the temple, including EO Dharmareddy, are Christians. His accusation in the video that the EO’s son was buried instead of being cremated created a stir in the state, and a case was registered against him at the Tirumala police station.
Ramana Deekshitulu was unavailable for comment and his house in Tirumala was found locked.
