Pawan Kalyan flays TTD decision on keeping open Vaikunta Dwaram for ten days

Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan onFriday slammed the decision to keep open the celestial''Vaikunta Dwaram'' (passage) at the famous hill shrine of LordVenkateswara near here for ten days from Vaikunta Ekadasi day,saying it was not fair to break centuries-old practices.

He also alleged that for the last several years,political interference has been causing a sort of disturbancein the spiritual practices at the ancient temple in Tirumala.

The holy passage encircling the Sanctum Sanctorum used tobe kept open for devotees only onthe Vaikunta Ekadasi day forthe past many centuries, the actor-turned politician toldreporters here.

But for the first time in history, it was kept open forten days last month, he said, criticising the decision of theTirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), which manages the temple,making the change from this year for the benefit of devotees.

Political interference and appointing politicians asmembers on the coveted Board of TTD and other templesboardsas well should be stopped, he added.

Kalyan said his party would soon form ''shadow teams'' tokeep an eye on 12 noted temples, including the Tirumalashrine, in Andhra Pradesh to check if there was any sort ofviolation in the observance of age-old customs.

Condemning the desecration of Hindu temples and deitiesin the state, he accused the Jaganmohan Reddy government ofinaction in identifying and nabbing the perpetrators.

Had the same kind of attacks happened in places ofworship of other faiths, would the YSRC government have shownthe same attitude, he questioned.

The Jana Sena chief said he never said the ruling YSRC'shand was behind the attacks and demanded immediate stringentaction against the culprits.

Replying to a question, he said the Rashtriya SwayamsevakSangh (RSS) was the ''most responsible and committed''organisation in the country.

After offering worship at the Lord Venkateswara temple,Pawan Kalyan made a donation of Rs 30 lakh for the Ram templeconstruction at Ayodhya.

He handed over a cheque for the amount to RSS state in-charge Bharat Kumar in the presence of senior BJP leader andformer minister Kamineni Srinivas Rao at a hotel here.