VHP asks Hindus to unite to protect Sri Venkateshwara temple of Tirumala

A meeting of Hindu religious heads and leaders of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) in Hyderabad has called upon the Hindu community to unite to protect the Sri Venkateshwara temple of Tirumala and other institutions under the Tirumala Tirupati Devsthanam.

The meeting was called by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad in the wake of the allegations of mismanagement in the TTD and some of the jewels of the Tirumala temple going missing. Expressing deep concern over the alleged mismanagement in the TTD affairs, the meeting demanded that Dharmik Mandali should be constituted and the Government and political interference in the TTD management should be ended. The meeting also wanted the Government to order a thorough probe in to the allegations of the theft of the jewels and allay the apprehensions of the devotees.

The meeting was attended by the  head of the Hampi Peeth Sri Vidyaraniya Bharati, prominent seer Sri Paripurvananda Swamy, founder of Hindu Temples Protection Committee Sri Kamlananda Bharati and many other religious figures. State VHP President M Rama Raju, working president Surinder Reddy, former State Government Chief Secretary IYR Krishna Rao were also present in the meeting.

The meeting also demanded that the State Government should consult the religious heads on the steps to be taken to protect the sanctity of the temple.

The next meeting will be held at Tirupati on June 9 and issue a declaration with guidelines to unite the Hindu society, a press release of VHP said.

A row was kicked up last month with a former Chief Priest of Tirumala temple Ramana Deekshitulu alleging that many ancient jewels of the temple were missing and there were serious irregularities in the management of the temple.

The ruling Telugu Desam party on the other hand alleged that the BJP was hatching a conspiracy to destabilize the state by leveling baseless allegations regarding Tirumala temple.