Tirupati Ghee Controversy: Karnataka Mandates Use Of State-Run Nandini Ghee For All Temples (Photo on X@fansbook60)
As outrage over the use of animal fat in ghee at the Tirupati temple in Andhra Pradesh, the Karnataka government on Friday ordered mandatory use of Nandini brand ghee in all 34,000 temples under the state’s temple management department.
Nandini ghee is produced by the state-run Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF), and the new directive will make it compulsory to use the brand for all the temple rituals, including lighting lamps, preparing ‘prasad’, and in the ‘Dasoha Bhavans’, sites where foods are served for the devotees. The circular asked the temple staff not to compromise the quality of Prasada served at the temple.
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The directive follows the controversy that erupted after allegations of the use of animal fat in ghee used for cooking laddoos at the noted Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple in Tirupati. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu raised concerns over the alleged manipulation of the ghee used at the temple, confirming that the samples tested positive for lard and other animal fats.
The temple, which produces around 3 lakh laddos daily, needs huge quantities of ghee (approximately 1,400 kg) along with other items including cashew nuts, raisins, cardamoms, gram flour, and sugar. The ghee was reportedly sourced from a Tamil Nadu based company, and former chief minister and opposition leader Jagan Mohan Reddy also came under scrutiny, with claims of the use of animal fat during his term at the temple. Chandrababu Naidu had alleged that the previous YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government had substituted animal fat for ghee in the preparation of laddoo prasadam at Tirumala. The YSRCP chief has, however, denied the allegations and attacked the ruling TDP for using the issue for political gain, calling it “politics in the name of god.”
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A petition has also been filed in the Supreme Court, noting that the use of animal fat in temples violated Article 25 of the freedom of religion of the constitution. The Tamil Nadu-based AR Dairy Food Pvt. Ltd. has been facing a backlash as the temple authorities accused the supplier of exploiting the lack of in-house food testing mechanism. However, the dairy firm has denied the allegation, saying its products have undergone multiple lab tests.
A report from a Gujarat state-run lab further escalated the fury when it noted that the ghee used at the Tirupati temple tested positive for fish oil, beef tallow, pig fat, and lard. The government has called for a thorough investigation into the issue.
