TTD in trouble over ‘declaration form’
The board of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) has landed in a controversy following the statement of its chairman Y. V. Subba Reddy regarding signing the ‘declaration form’, which a nonHindu must sign professing faith in Lord Venkateswara before entering TTD temples.
In a statement, Subba Reddy had said, “There were a few instances in the past where non-Hindu political personalities visited Tirumala and had darshan without signing the declaration form. There are also instances to show that AP Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has immense faith in Lord Venkateswara. Hence, I just said that AP CM need not sign a declaration to prove his faith in Lord Venkateswara”.
Though the TTD chairman later clarified that he never suggested that the rule mandating signing of declaration form be with
● As per TTD Rule No.136, only Hindus are allowed to have darshan at TTD temples.
● As per Rule No.137, non-Hindus wishing to have darshan have to declare the same in a form.
● According to a memo issued by the state government in 2014, if anyone is found to be a non-Hindu, TTD authorities can ask them to fill the declaration form.
● The rule says there can be no objection to admission of non-Hindus into TTD temples, provided they furnish a declaration.
drawn, Opposition parties and Hindu rights activists have found fault with the statement, which they say is in complete reversal of the temple body’s decadesold rule.
There have been several instances in the past wherein several foreign dignitaries, top politicians and bureaucrats have signed the declaration form during their visits to Tirumala temple, among them the then President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.
Controversies have also arisen in the past several non-Hindu politicians did not sign the form. The TTD chairman himself had noted that neither Congress chief Sonia Gandhi nor late Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy had ever given such a signed declaration during their visit to Tirumala.
“Citing a few names of noted personalities, I said AP CM, who will be presenting silk vastrams to Lord Venkateswara, need not sign the declaration form for non-Hindus because he has already expressed his faith in the Lord of Seven Hills”, the chairman maintained in his statement.
Rayalaseema Porata Samithi convener P. Naveen Kumar Reddy opposed the statement. “Do Pedda Jeeyar Swamy and Chinna Jeeyar Swamy of Tirumala temple, TTD priests, Mathadhipathis, Peetadhipathis and IAS officers in TTD support TTD chairman's statement? Or do they oppose it,” he asked.
“Non-Hindus, who are in constitutional positions, must sign the declaration and stand as a role model for other people. In a similar way, Jagan Mohan Reddy, who did not sign the declaration when he was in the Opposition and even after becoming AP CM, should at least now sign the declaration and stand as a role model for continuing the decadesold rule in keeping with sentiments of Hindu devotees”, Naveen Kumar Reddy said.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, C.S. Rangarajan, archaka of the Chilkur Balaji Devasthanam of Hyderabad said, “A properly constituted AP Dharmika Parishad, with eminent devotees truly representing the Hindu temple worship sampradaya, should be taking decisions on such matters”.