Ghee to be Piped into Tirupati Temple Kitchens

[krsna]

Ghee to be Piped into Tirupati Temple Kitchens

Press Reports

 

HYDERABAD, INDIA, February 12, 2004: The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam

(TTD), the richest Hindu Temple, has been known to adopt modern

technology to make things easier for workers and pilgrims and save

money. The ghee used for cooking the laddoo (a large sweet) and other

prasadam (blessed food offered to the Diety) will now be supplied

through pipes, making it free from human touch. With the help of the

National Dairy Development Board, the TTD will soon have a pipeline

supplying melted ghee round the clock. On an average, the temple uses

4,500 kg ghee daily. The entire exercise of getting the 1,100-odd tin

containers, piercing them and getting the ghee out was time consuming

and involved a lot of wastage. The other problem was finding the space

to store the used tin boxes for the six-monthly auctions. The ghee

pipeline will have double-jacketed pipes -- the inner pipe will carry

ghee, the outer will carry steam to keep the ghee flowing. A huge tank

is being erected alongside the temple to store ghee. The pipeline will

save the temple US$130,000 a year. Everyday 35,000 to 40,000 devotees

visit the shrine; about 100,000 laddoos are distributed as prasad,

using 4,500 kg ghee.