As it marks its platinum jubilee, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) is intensifying its "socio-spiritual" campaign that aims at reaching out to Dalits, backward communities and tribals, bringing the message of Vedic religion to them.
The TTD, the managing body of the Lord Venkateswara hill shrine, says the programme, which has three wings --'Dalita Govindam', 'Matsya Govindam' and 'Girijan Govindam' -- is part of a "social revolution" that will help eradicate social evils and strengthen the Hindu religious structure.
As part of Dalita Govindam, the idols of the Lord and other deities are taken to Dalit colonies and prayers and spiritual discourses are held there, TTD Board Chairman B Karunakar Reddy says.
Matsya Govindam involves training of fisher folk in Hindu rituals while Girijan Govindam is an endeavour to bring tribals to the Hindu religious mainstream through propagation of Vedic religion and improvement of infrastructure in their areas.
The "socio-spiritual programme" has been undertaken as the TTD has an important role in bringing "social change" and "Hindu awakening," Reddy says.
However, the Dalit project, which is seen by some as an attempt to woo the backward castes amid reports of conversion to Christianity in Tirupati and nearby areas, is in the midst of a controversy for several months now.
Dalit organisations have been alleging that the TTD is "insulting" and "discriminating" against the community by not placing the idols taken to Dalit areas inside the sanctum sanctorum of the main temple of Lord Balaji.
"The idols used in Dalita Govindam are being kept in 'Archaka Nilayam' (rest house of priests) and we demand that those be shifted to the main temple," Republican Party of India leader P Anjaiah says.
The RPI and the Andhra Pradesh Scheduled Caste Association representatives met President Pratibha Patil when she came here last week to inaugurate the 75th year celebrations of TTD. They submitted a six-point memorandum which also included the demand for permission for SC/ST children to study in TTD 'vedapathsalas' (vedic schools).
However, the TTD maintains that installing any new idol other than the already existing idols inside the sanctum would amount to violating the 'agamas' (scriptures).
The administration of the country's richest shrine says the Dalita Govindam demonstrates the Devasthanams' firm determination to endeavour for well-being of Dalits.
"The TTD wants to take Vedas to the people. Casteism is not a part of vedic traditions, it came in the middle ages. TTD and the believers in Hinduism have a responsibility in ushering in a social revolution," TTD Chairman Reddy says.
He says the TTD is also taking up a series of other socially relevant schemes, including 'Kalyanmastu', or large-scale mass marriage programmes to help the poor. Over 20,000 couples have tied the knot in a span of two years in three phases of the programme.
The organisation already runs a number of vedic schools, colleges, medical institutions, hospitals and universities. Apart from the existing six universities in Tirupati, a seventh, focusing exclusively on the study of fine arts, would come up in a year.
