The TTD recently set up a closed circuit camera at ‘Sabera,’ a small room where the silver and other articles used in the daily worship of the presiding deity are stored, inside the hill temple.
It is located little diagonal to the temple hundi and to the west of Bhasyakarla sannidhi. Even though no religious sanctity of any kind is attached to it, a visit to the room is treated as a preferential treatment extended by the management.
VIPs visiting the temple make a beeline for the room where the ‘paricharakas’ shower ‘akshintalu’ and provide them with sacred ‘theertham.’ They also display a sari saying it was draped around the body of the deity the previous week and the devotees in their divine exaltation place it over their heads and in turn gift them huge amounts as ‘sambhavana.’
It is against this back drop that the TTD has set up a camera inside the room with a strict warning to the staff not to allow any outsiders but for those suggested by the management.
In another startling decision, the TTD has reportedly resolved not to accept any curtains from any outsider.
A noted tailor from Tirupati regularly donated four curtains for use inside the hill temple during the periodical Koil Alwar Thirumanjanam which is observed four times a year ahead of Ugadi, Anivara asthanam, Brahmotsavams and Vaikunta Ekadasi festivals.
The management also entitled him with ‘Mahadwaram’ entry along with two of his associates, a very rare privilege which is extended only to constitutional heads and important dignitaries like the President, Vice-President, Prime minister, Chief Minister, Union and State ministers, top judicial authorities among others.
The officials were flabbergasted on finding that the cost of curtains never exceeded a few thousands of rupees and wondered as to how could the rare privilege be extended to a petty donor.
Unable to find a convincing explanation the authorities are caught in a dilemma and exploring the feasibility of procuring the curtains on their won for the ensuing Brahmotsavams.
The argument that while even the affluent donors contributing several crores of rupees to the TTD are not extended with such high profile honour (Mahadwaram entry) how can an ordinary tailor be bestowed with such privilege is learnt to have formed the basis for disapproval.
How ever a final decision is to be taken by the management.
The TTD which also found that several persons who did not hold any official stature were conferred with unjustified favours on par with other top dignitaries stoutly refused to entertain the recommendation letters of a highly connected local entrepreneur involved in the business of photo lamination.
All the efforts of the businessman who wielded enormous powers during the previous government’s rule to prevail on the officials that he was provided with privileged darshan tickets on a daily basis yielded no results. His appeals that he supplied laminated photos to TTD at free of cost also went in vain with the officials politely assuaging him that a purchase order would be placed in case of any requirement.
