The Hindu : Front Page : No non-Hindu propaganda atop Tirumala: TTD chief

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Tuesday, Sep 05, 2006

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No non-Hindu propaganda atop Tirumala: TTD chief

Staff Reporter

Assurance to believers; Balaji still holds Seven Hills

HYDERABAD: Chairman of the Tirumala-Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) B. Karunakar Reddy on Monday assured believers that non-Hindu religious propaganda on the hill town would not be allowed under any circumstances.

On his first visit to the State capital after taking over as TTD Chairman, he reiterated that Lord Balaji still held the Seven Hills and that the revenue jurisdiction had not dwindled to two hills as reported. He recalled that it was only recently that the budget of Dharma Prachara Parishat had leap-frogged from Rs. 3 to Rs. 20 crores.

Referring to reports about his political affiliations as student leader, he advised restraint on the part of the media, and recalled that TTD's former Executive Officer P.V.R.K. Prasad would vouch for his religious leanings. He regretted that he had been termed an `atheist' in the media. "When Mr. Prasad was EO, I was a student leader in the seventies and he well remembers my religious outlook," he said.

Expanding on recent media reports that members of other religions had been propagating their beliefs, Mr. Reddy said that a thorough investigation had revealed no evidence to that effect.

He said that for the first time, TTD had decided to give away to devotees participating in the immersion festival "pustaka prasadam".

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