Tirupati: The famed holy sweet in an unsavoury row in India

The famous Tirupati temple laddus are prized by devotees who consider them god’s blessing.

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The controversy erupted last week when Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said that lab reports had shown that laddus offered to the deity and then distributed to devotees every day at the famous Tirupati temple in the state were contaminated with animal and vegetable fat.

He said the ghee (clarified butter) used in the sweets was adulterated with “beef tallow, fish oil and other impurities”. Temple offerings in India are usually vegetarian.

On the face of it, it appeared like a matter of food adulteration - something that authorities in India routinely grapple with.

But since Naidu’s announcement, the issue has dominated headlines, caused a major political row and prompted other temples to test their sweets for “purity”.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cglkenxgd5xo

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