Tirumala shrine’s pradaanarchakulyu (chief priest) faced criticism from the media after he was spotted at a private guest house in Tirumala on Sunday where he met the son of a top industrialist. The news channels in the state found fault with the priest for offering private blessings.

The reports suggested that when the cameraperson approached Ramana Deexitulu, he sped away in the car. However, the news channel tried to contact Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), which was reluctant to comment on the controversy. Ramana Deexitulu was not available for the media.

It has to be mentioned here that TTD earlier served memo to the chief priest Ramana Deexitulu for conducting special rituals at a guest house in Tirumala that purportedly violated the temple norms.

Chief priest A V Ramana Deekshitulu landed himself in a fresh controversy when he went to meet a top industrialist's son at a private guest house here on Sunday. Deexitulu was closeted with industrialist's son for a brief while in the evening to bless him.

Temple priests have said that priests at Tirumala should perform rituals in accordance with Agama Shastra (temple norms) only and it forbids priests from performing private functions.

In the wake of current allegations and controversies, we have to wait and watch whether TTD would replace someone else as the chief priest in the place of Ramana Deexitulu. (Phani)