A recent lab test revealed that the laddus, given as prasad at the well-known Sri Venkateswara temple in Tirupati, were made using beef tallow, fish oil, and palm oil. The shocking revelation came after state Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, on Wednesday, accused the previous YSR Congress (YSRCP) government of Andhra Pradesh of mixing animal fat and inferior ingredients to make the Tirupati laddu.

The Tirupati laddu is the 'prasad' offered at the famous Sri Venkateswara temple. “Even Tirumala laddu was made with substandard ingredients...they used animal fat instead of ghee,” Naidu said during the NDA legislature party meeting in Amravati.

The iconic Tirupati laddu prasadam was made with ghee during the previous YSRCP government, but the report's findings reveal that there were traces of animal fat, including beef tallow and fish oil. This discovery caused a huge uproar and accusations of disrespecting religious sentiments.

Animal fat was found in the ghee used to make the well-known Tirupati laddus during the YSRCP's rule, according to a report from the Centre of Analysis and Learning in Livestock and Food, or CALF, a lab at Gujarat's National Dairy Development Board. Fish oil, beef tallow, and lard—a semi-solid white fat product made by rendering pig fatty tissue—were found in trace amounts in the ghee, according to the report.

However, Naidu's accusation was described as ‘malicious’ by the YSRCP after he accused the latter on Wednesday. The YSRCP also claimed that the TDP chief would “stoop to any level for political gain’. Subba Reddy, leader of YSRCP and an MP of the Rajya Sabha alleged that Naidu had severely damaged the sanctity of the holy Tirumala and the faith of crores of Hindus with his comments. “His comments about the Tirumala prasadam are extremely malicious. No person would speak such words or make such accusations,’ Subba Reddy asserted in a post on X.

However, the recent findings in the reports are shocking and would cause massive damage to the beliefs of devotees of the revered temple.

State IT minister Nara Lokesh also slammed the previous YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government over the issue. “The Lord Venkateswara Swamy temple at Tirumala is our most sacred temple. I am shocked to learn that the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy administration used animal fat instead of ghee in the Tirupati Prasadam,” he said.

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