4 months ago
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Beneath the timeless chants that echo done the sanctum of Lord Venkateswara’s elevation shrine, a quiescent interest has reached the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) administration.
Heriditary priests serving astatine the revered temple person appealed to the absorption to easiness their workload by inducting further archakas, pointing retired that the ritual demands are stretching existing manpower to its limits.
In a practice submitted to TTD Chairman B.R. Naidu, Executive Officer Anil Kumar Singhal and Additional E.O. Venkaiah Chowdary, the priests urged the recruitment of qualified hands, well-versed successful Veda, Agama and temple traditions. Notably, they emphasised that eligibility should remainder connected ritual competence adjacent if it means recruiting priests beyond the accepted mirasidar families.
For generations, hereditary families of Gollapalli, Peddinti, Paidipalli and Tirupatamma, person been rendering work astatine the elevation temple. Currently, astir 49 archakas, mostly drawn from these lineages, and a fewer non-mirasidars enarthrosis the work of maintaining an exacting ritual calendar. Nearly 450 festivals and sevas done daily, weekly, fortnightly and annually are conducted each twelvemonth wrong the temple successful strict adherence to Agama Sastras, leaving small country for respite.
Citing recurrent shortages erstwhile families look bereavement, during which customary observances barroom the members from temple duties for prescribed periods, they said that akin constraints originate during definite idiosyncratic and household observances, inevitably shifting the load to others. The concern is further compounded by impending retirements (with implicit fractional a twelve of them already considering status successful the adjacent mates of years owing to their advancing age), deputations to different TTD-run temples and regular leave, which unneurotic strain an already thin workforce.
With lone astir 30 representatives from the hereditary families presently engaged wrong the sanctum, elder priests accidental sustaining the sanctity and precision of rituals is becoming progressively challenging. It is against this backdrop that the main priests person sought the management’s intervention.
Confirming the appeal, Additional EO Venkaiah Chowdary told The Hindu that the TTD had received the practice and would analyse it successful extent earlier taking a determination connected merit, mindful of some contented and the temple’s increasing ritual demands.
