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Priest at Tirumala temple dies of Covid
Calls for a temporary closure of the Venkateshwara temple in Tirumala intensified following the death of a former chief priest due to Covid-19 on Monday.
Calls for a temporary closure of the Venkateshwara temple in Tirumala intensified following the death of a former chief priest due to Covid-19 on Monday.
Srinivasa Murthy Deekshitulu (75), one of the 18 priests of the Tirumala temple who had tested positive for Covid-19 last week, succumbed to the infection at Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences (SVIMS).
B Vengamma, SVIMS director, said Deekshitulu, who was admitted to the hospital on Saturday, had comorbid conditions of diabetes and kidney-related ailments.
Priests and employees of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) have called for a temporary closure of the temple to the public to check the spread of the virus.
Deekshitulu, who belonged to Archakam Peddinti family, one of the four families of hereditary priests associated with the Tirumala temple for centuries, had served as the chief priest for over two decades.
He, along with three other priests, was forced to retire in 2018 during the Telugu Desam Party government. After the YSR Congress government came to power, he had been participating in the temple rituals although he was not restored to the office.
The TTD decided against following the specific procedure for last rites of hereditary priests due to the ongoing pandemic.
The TTD Staff and Workers United Front, affiliated to the Centre of Indian Trade Unions, submitted a representation to TTD executive officer Anil Kumar Singhal requesting that visits to the temple be temporarily suspended in the wake of a growing number of positive cases on the Tirumala hills.
The TTD staff pointed out that more than 1,000 positive cases of Covid-19 were reported in Tirupati town and around 100 employees of the TTD have tested positive. “These employees can end up infecting devotees when they go up the hill to Tirumala to perform duties. In this context, employees are all very worried,” the representation stated.
Soon after the death of Deekshitulu, TTD trust board chairman YV Subba Reddy flew to Vijayawada to hold a meeting with chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy to discuss the demand from various sections of the TTD for the closure of the temple.
Subba Reddy had told the reporters last week that 15 of 50 priests at the Tirumala temple have tested positive, besides 140 other TTD employees, since the temple was re-opened on June 8.
Honorary head priest of the temple AV Ramana Deekshitulu found fault with the TTD authorities for continuing to allow pilgrims despite a surge in Covid-19 cases in Tirumala.
He alleged that the TTD officials were obediently following anti-hereditary archaka (priest) and anti-Brahmin policy of the TDP. “Disaster if this continues. Please take action,” he appealed to chief minister Jagan Mohan Reddy.
