Govt. orders Muzrai Temples to use only Nandini ghee

Bengaluru: Even as the Tirupati laddu adulteration row has hit national headlines with the reported findings of a laboratory, the Karnataka Government, alerted by the row, has directed all Muzrai Temples in the State to use KMF’s (Karnataka Milk Federation) Nandini brand ghee for making laddus and other prasadas.

There are as many as 34,000 Muzrai Temples, out of which 205 fall under A category, 193 under B Category and the rest under C Category. All these temples distribute prasada to the devotees after the completion of pujas and rituals.

Muzrai Dept., taking no chances despite the fact that there are no reports of beef tallow and fish oil adulteration in ghee, has decided to send the prasada samples to the Food Testing Laboratory.

Union Minister Pralhad Joshi, expressing anguish over reports on ghee adulteration in Tirupati Temple prasada, had asked the Karnataka Government too to send prasada samples to the laboratory for checking of any adulteration.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Muzrai Minister Ramalinga Reddy has asserted that prasada will be distributed among the devotees only after testing. He pointed out that the annual revenue of A Category temples is more than Rs. 25 lakh, while that  of B Category temples is Rs. 5 lakh to Rs. 25 lakh and that of C Category temples is less than Rs. 5 lakh.

Maintaining that there are no reports of adulteration of prasada in any of the temples in the State, Ramalinga Reddy said that all the Muzrai Temples have been strictly directed to use only ‘Nandini’ brand ghee of KMF.

At the same time, the temples have been sent a circular not to use any other ghee brands, he said adding that Karnataka has been supplying Nandini brand ghee to Tirupati for making laddus and other prasadas there for years.