TTD to sell incense sticks made from flowers used to adorn deities

TIRUPATI: The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) is set to commence the sale of incense sticks made from used flowers of its temples by the first week of September.

The TTD uses a large quantity of flowers to adorn deities and conduct daily rituals in its temples. It had come with an idea of making incense sticks from used flowers instead of dumping them as waste.

Darshan International of Bengaluru, a leading incense sticks manufacturer, had come forward to make agarbattis from used flowers on cost-to-cost basis. The TTD has already commenced production of incense sticks from used flowers in Tirupati. Initially, it had planned to launch the sale of incense sticks on Independence Day. 

Reviewing the functioning of Sri Venkateswara Go Samrakshana Shala and SV Ayurvedic College at an official meeting on Monday, Executive Officer KS Jawahar Reddy said incense sticks should be made available for sale at Tirumala laddu counters, coconut counters, Goshala, Sri Govindaraja Swamy temple, Vishnu Nivasam and Srinivasam in Tirupati and at Sri Padmavathi temple at Tiruchanoor by the first week of September.

He said the TTD had tied up with Coimbatore-based Ashirwad company for production of 15 types of Panchagavya products. He directed officials to complete all civil and electrical works in the DPW Stores to produce Panchagavya products. The products include Divya Mangala dhoop churnam, agarbattis, sambrani cups, dhoop sticks, dhoop cones, Aishwarya Vibhuti, Parimala herbal tooth powder, face pack, soaps, shampoo, Sanjivini nasal drops.