Amid the ongoing controversy over Tirupati’s laddu prasadam, a purported video of a rat on a packet of prasadam from the Siddhivinayak temple in Mumbai is circulating on social media. However, the Sri Siddhivinayak Ganapati Temple Trust (SSGT) denied the allegation and said it has begun an investigation into the matter.
Shiv Sena leader and SSGT president Sada Sarvankar on Tuesday said, “Lakhs of laddus are distributed daily and the place where they are made is clean. The video shows a dirty place. I can see that it is not a temple and the video has been made somewhere outside.” In the alleged video, packets of laddus kept in a blue ‘tray’ are seen being nibbled by rats.
Sarvankar said, “We will examine the CCTV footage and a DCP (Deputy Commissioner of Police) rank officer will be appointed to investigate. Action will be taken against the guilty.” Earlier, at a press conference, Sarvankar said that the temple makes every effort to ensure that the prasad is prepared in a clean place.
He said, “Ghee, cashews and other ingredients are first sent to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) laboratory for testing and are used after approval from there.” He said that water is also tested in the laboratory. He said, “This means that we pay full attention to ensure that the prasad given to the devotees is pure.”
This video has come amid the ongoing controversy over the laddus given as prasad in the Tirupati temple. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had on September 18 alleged that the previous YS Jaganmohan Reddy government used animal fat in Tirupati laddus.