Pawan Kalyan Begins 11-Day Penance Over Tirupati Laddu Controversy

Guntur (Andhra Pradesh) [India], September 22: Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan has started an 11-day penance to atone for the alleged use of animal fat in the preparation of Tirupati Laddu Prasadam. He stated that those responsible must face punishment and accused the previous YSRCP regime of destroying 219 temples.

Pawan Kalyan said, “During the YSRCP regime, 219 temples were destroyed. I questioned the destruction of these temples. We will not tolerate this, and strict action will be taken. What has the TTD board done in the past five years? Hindu devotees must speak out. What was once sacred has been desecrated. The guilty must face punishment.”

He further alleged that the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) board was altered for political gain by the previous government. Kalyan began his 11-day ‘Prayaschitta Diksha’ at Sri Dasavatara Venkateswara Swamy Temple in Guntur as penance.

“Prasadam distribution has been ongoing for more than 100 years. But under YSRCP’s rule, TTD board was altered for political gain. The Sri Venkateswara Trust was established, leading to various scams. Worship protocols were changed, and over 300 temples were desecrated,” Kalyan said.

He also claimed that Ayodhya had received ‘contaminated’ laddus from TTD during the YSRCP regime. “I question whether authorities are following protocols in all temples. Fish oil, beef tallow, and pork fat have been found in prasadam. Even Ayodhya received contaminated laddus from TTD during the YSRCP regime,” Kalyan said.

“As I undertake this 11-day penance ritual, I apologize to Lord Venkateswara. We shouldn’t remain silent when Hindu temples are desecrated. If this happened in mosques or churches, the nation would erupt,” he added.

Earlier, in a post on X, Pawan Kalyan announced that he will fast for 11 days to seek forgiveness from Lord Balaji. “I am deeply hurt on a personal level by the malicious attempts made to infuse impurity in the prasad of Sri Tirupati Balaji Dham, the center of our culture, faith, belief, and devotion, and to tell you the truth, I feel cheated from within. Right now, I am taking a vow to seek forgiveness from the Lord and am taking a vow to fast for eleven days. In the latter part of the eleven-day Atonement Initiation, on October 1 and 2, I will go to Tirupati and have a personal darshan of the Lord and beg for forgiveness and then my Atonement Initiation will be completed in front of the Lord,” Pawan Kalyan tweeted on X.

The controversy follows claims by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu that substandard ingredients, including animal fat, were used in the preparation of Tirupati laddus, the prasadam offered at the Sri Venkateswara temple in Tirupati, during the previous YSRCP government.