TTD Joint Executive Officer Pola Bhaskar has announced that steps would be taken soon to fill various positions of priests by providing effective training.
Speaking at the inaugural of the three-day national Agama seminar at Sri Venkateswara Vedic University (SVVU) here on Wednesday, he expressed concern that several temples were facing shortage of priests and hence rituals were not being conducted as per the Agama, the doctrine of temple worship. To overcome the shortage, the TTD has been training priests at its SV Employees Training Academy (SVETA) and the Vedic University. He recalled the steps initiated by the TTD a decade ago to train people in priesthood, which he said had started yielding results.
“If global well-being is the goal of temples and worship, it is the Agamas that prescribe the rules and norms to ensure balance in life”, he said. Mr. Bhaskar later released as souvenir the book ‘Agama Kusumanjali’, a compilation of the abstract papers presented by the 120 Agama researchers at the three-day meet. A.V. Ramana Dikshitulu, one of the chief priests of Tirumala temple, mentioned that the entire world revered the Tirumala temple as it unscrupulously followed the Vaikhanasa Agama without any deviation.
SVVU Vice-Chancellor K.E. Devanathan explained the varsity’s objective to propagate the Vaikhanasa, Pancharatra and Saiva Agamas and disseminate their essence to future generations.
Three-day national Agama seminar begins at Sri Venkateswara Vedic University, Tirupati
