Amid Tirupati laddu row, Karnataka directs temples to use only Nandini ghee to prepare prasadam

State's Muzarai department minister Ramalinga Reddy told DH that almost all temples in the state use Nandini ghee for preparation of prasadam and the circular was to allay any fear among devotees.

Bengaluru: The state government on Friday issued a circular mandating all state run Muzarai temples to use only Nandini ghee manufactured by Karnataka Cooperative Milk Producers' Federation Limited for preparing prasadam as well as in all sevas, deepam and serve in dasoha bhavans in the state.

The state government’s circular comes amid the controversy of animal fat being allegedly used in making laddus at the Tirupati temple. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has alleged that animal fat had been used in laddus in temple prasadam given at Thirumala temple during the previous Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government.

According to a circular issued by the Muzarai department, the state-run temples have been told to maintain the quality of prasadam.

When contacted, the Muzarai department minister Ramalinga Reddy told DH that almost all temples in the state are using Nandini ghee for preparation of prasadam.

“The circular was issued to allay fear among the devotees in the state after the Tirumala laddu controversy came to light. The state government is also planning to give ‘4 G‘ concession to all temples to enable them to procure Nandini ghee from the KMF outlets in the state,” he explained.

He further added that of the 34563 temples, only 45 to 50 temples in the state offer prasadam as well as offer Anna Dasoha services. “We are also planning to conduct random checks in temples to evaluate whether quality standards are followed or not in the days to come,” he said.

There are 34563 temples in the state which are under the Muzarai department and among these 201 are categorised as Grade A temples.

139 are Grade B and remaining 34,223 are Grade C temples.