Managudi Kankanams taken out in procession

Kankanams (holy threads) to be distributed to various temples across the State as a part of second phase of ‘Managudi’ programme which will take place on November 28, were taken out in a procession from Bedi Anjaneyulu Swamy temple to Srivari temple at Tirumala on Friday.
TTD Board chairman K Bapiraju, accompanied by board members Deshpande, Srinivasa, Rajeshwari carried the sacred threads over their heads and placed them at the feet of Lord Venkateswara for His blessings.
Later, the threads were taken to Asthanam Mandapam for packing to be distributed to other temples across the State.
TTD along with AP Endowments department has all set to organise second phase of ‘Managudi’ programme on the auspicious day of Karthika Pournami, which falls on November 28.
Deputy Executive Officer C Ramana, HDPP Deputy EO Umapathi Reddy, OSD Raghunath, temple Peishkar Ajay and others were also present.

Goddess Padmavathi rides on Suryaprabha Vahanam

Goddess Padmavathi in the form of Sri Vedanarayana Swamy was taken out in a procession atop Suryaparabha Vahanam on 7th day of ongoing annual Kartheeka Brahmotsavam at Sri Padmavathi Ammavari Temple in Tiruchanur on Friday.
TTD Executive Officer LV Subrahmanyam released a Hindi Bhajan audio compact disc ‘Bhajorey Bhaiyya Ram Govind Hari’ sung by Sabari Girish of TTDs SV Music College.
TTD Joint Executive Officer Venkatarami Reddy, DIG of Police Charu Sinha, CV&SO GVG Ashok Kumar, Deputy EO (PAT) Gopalakrishna, AEO Venugopal, Superintendent Engineer Ramachandra Reddy, temple staff and devotees took part.

TTD to give monthly aid to tribal schools

he Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) Trust Board has resolved to provide a monthly assistance of Rs 99,000 to the 198 singleteacher schools in tribal areas across the state.
Speaking to the media after the Trust Board meeting here on Friday, TTD chairman Kanumuri Bapiraju said that they had earmarked a grant of Rs 23.76 lakh for two years for the tribal schools which would be utilised to propagate Hinduism.
The chairman also said that they had decided to appoint Annamacharya Sankeerthana maestro Dr G Balakrishna Prasad as the “Asthan Vidwan’ of the TTD.
In the Board meeting, it was also decided to purchase 145 acre of land near Renigunta, belonging to the Tirupati Urban Development Authority (TUDA), at a cost of Rs 70 crore.
The TTD will take up the Gold Malam works to Kalpavriksha Vahanam, Chinnasesha Vahanam, Makaratoranam of the Sri Govindaraja Swamy temple at Tirupati.
The proposal of giving a facelift to the centuries-old Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple at Pullur village in Siddipet Mandal of Medak district also got a nod from the Board. It also approved the proposal of appointing 18 Vedic pundits for Dharmagiri Veda Pathashala.
The pundits will get a monthly remuneration of Rs 16,000 each. Earlier, the TTD chairman released the New Year Diary for 2013.

Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams decides to construct one more guest house

TIRUMALA: The first-ever meeting of the newly-formed Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) board here on Tuesday did not take any key decisions.
Except for coming up with a plan to construct a 280-room Vakulamatha guest house adjacent to the recent Nandakam rest house for the benefit of pilgrims and a promise to provide a hassle-free darshan to the pilgrims, the 14-member board had failed to outline its direction to run the cash-rich temple.
The main apprehension among the pilgrims is over the rush for VIP tickets, which could increase manifold thanks to the jumbo board which is in place now.
"Most of the board members will use their clout to get VIP tickets to their near and dear ones," alleged Bhanu Prakash of BJP. Though the classification of VIP tickets was abolished, sources said it's only a matter of time before listing of VIP pilgrims as per priority makes a comeback.
Sources said in spite of the controversy, the TTD would stick to its time-tested pandering of VIPs at the expense of common pilgrims.
Chairman of Board Kanumuri Bapiraju said with a full-fledged board they were confident of taking up more pro-pilgrim activities.

Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams chief lords over TirumalaTirumala Tirupati Devasthanams chief lords over Tirumala

HYDERABAD/TIRUMALA: Kanumuri Bapiraju, who got another two-year term as chairman of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, seems to have become sort of lord unto himself. That Bapiraju has started playing the power-induced games in the famed temple portals is to state the obvious.
A case in point: Presently, his office teems with not less than 15 staffers whose salary is paid by the TTD.