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 Tirupati, Feb 4: Tridandi China Jeeyar Swamy is a very knowledgeable and respected pontiff. His remarks on how TTD has been violating the ancient customs and turning the sacred hills of Tirumala more as a tourist resort than a devotional center need to be given serious thought.
Jeeyar has attained great knowledge at a very tender age and is respected by the Vaishnavite sect of Hindus and custodians of the temple traditions. Ramanuja has prescribed some procedures for the temple rituals. There are also strict rules for temple construction.
These are all being violated, Jeeyar has lamented. He said the demolition of the ancient thousand-pillared hall brought a curse to the state and its people.
It may be recalled that the TTD has demolished this structure so that there would be more space for the increased influx of devotees to the temple. This is no explanation for demolishing a structure that has heritage and historical importance. The TTD and the government have also admitted that it was a wrong decision. They promised to re-construct the structure as per methods specified in the ‘Agamas’.Still that has not happened.
Jeeyar has also pointed that another ancient structure ‘Mondi Gopuram’ has collapsed. The garden of Anantacharya has disappeared.Mada streets had vanished. “Not one, several blasphemous acts are occurring at Tirumala. This is the reason why the state is in a turmoil. The influence is spreading to other parts of the country also. If we treat Srinivasa well here, he will take care of all of us.Let’s launch the save Tirumala’s sanctity movement now,” the learned pontiff called upon the people.
Jeeyar also said that the God should be allowed to rest for at least 2-hours in a day and faulted the practice of allowing Darshan of the Lord for 24 hours. Stating that he has pointed out 110 mistakes in the daily rituals to the Lord in the presence of the then EO Ajay Kallam and JEO Bala Subrahmaniam in 1993, Jeeyar Swamy said though the officers then assured that these mistakes would be corrected, nothing was done so far.
However, the Agama pundits of TTD have contradicted Jeeyar’s arguments. TTD chairman Kanumuri Bapi Raju has sarcastically said, “we will borrow wisdom and think over Chinna Jeeyar’s suggestions.” TTD’s employees including their paid pundits are government employees and hence they take up the cause of the TTD and try to shout down Chinna Jeeyar. It should be remembered that Chinna Jeeyar is a selfless servant of the God and his suggestions need serious consideration and a widespread debate if necessary. Instead of doing it, it is unimaginable that even Agama pundits of Tirumala are giving rejoinders like politicians.
No one in his right senses could justify the demolition of the 14th century ‘Veyyi Kaalla Mandapam’ (1000-pillered structure). In other countries even ancient structures not associated with religious sentiments are venerated as they pass on history to the future generations. Can any one imagine demolition of Pyramids or Taj Mahal, simply because they were obstructing traffic?
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