TIRUPATI: The dispute between archakas and administrators at the TTD has climaxed with the transfer of Mr Venkata Kumara Deekshitulu and Mr Rajesh Deekshitulu, the sons of Tirumala temple chief priest A.V. Ramana Deekshitulu, to the Govindaraja Swamy temple in Tirupati. The transfers took place last week because they were not attending to their duty at the Tirumala temple for a long time.
At the same time there are rumours that the administrators in connivance with some outsourced archakas were personally targeting Mr Ramana Deekshitulu who has always questioned TTD officials about any deviations or mistakes committed by them for their own personal gain. A priest from the Tirumala temple said, “To remove the hereditary archakas who have traditionally performed pujas at the temple and to prove the administration’s control, some of the officers are targeting us. They wish to cut down the powers given to the archakas by the TTD.”
Talking to Deccan Chronicle about his sons’ transfers, Mr Ramana Deekshitulu said, “Hereditary archakas and TTD do not have an employer and employee relationship according to the amended Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Act. The TTD has no control over archakas.” Regarding the absence of his sons from work, he said, “There are many other archakas in the temple who are not attending their duties. There are still others attending the duties only on paper. My sons are recruited as per the hereditary system. My grandson, who entered the temple through Maha Dwaram, was registered in the list of hereditary archakas. He had received an honour from TTD for his initiation ceremony.”
He added, “I have written several times to JEO and Temple DyEO to take action against Khadri Narasimha Charyulu, the head of outsourced archakas for not discharging his duties properly. He has to provide 25 names for the duty chart, but he gives 10 to 15. The administrators have neither initiated any inquiry nor taken any action against him. I don’t know why this is so.” It is also alleged that the junior officers and subordinate staff in the temple are interfering during the drafting of archakas duties. Apparently, they are also trying to dictate the allotment of duties to their group of outsourced archakas.
Few Officials using dispute to their favour:
Some TTD officials are taking advantage of the fact that there is discord amongst the hereditary archakas and the administrators and are using this for their own benefit and supporting one particular group in Tirumala. State politics is playing a key role in this power play of the archakas. Whenever there is a change in the ruling party, power equations at the TTD also change. There are some allegations that the Tirumala temple chief priest A.V. Ramana Deekshitulu had performed Yagam on top of the hill in favour of former Chief Minister Y.S. Rajashekhar Reddy to help him retain power.
It is not just Mr Deekshitulu, there are other archakas, who meet politicians in power. In fact some archakas are amply supported by some politicians. Asked about this, Mr Deekshitulu said, “If they are taking action against my sons, why are the officials not taking action against others involved in irregularities? I have given several complaints but no action has been initiated. There are archakas in the temple who are getting ample support from the officials.”
Apart from being involved in the archakas’ disputes, some of the officials in TTD are planning to allot the shops to new persons. This was cancelled by the former executive officer Sambasiva Rao. The EO had enquired about the situation and found out that the shops were illegally allotted and had called for tenders. Some applicants moved court and secured a stay order.
Mr. Rao had then cancelled the allotments of two shops near Nandakam guest house, two near Kalyana Katta, two near Sapthagiri Satralu and one shop from Medaramitta. The EO had ordered a probe and cancelled the allotments of these shops, admitting irregularities.
