Viral: Devotee complains about underweight Laddoo prasadam of Tirupati Balaji, officials respond

The visit to the world’s richest Hindu temple Tirupati Balaji in Andhra Pradesh is incomplete without its famous prasadam, which is a huge Laddoo that weighs about 180 gms and is popularly known as Sri Vari Laddoo. Recently, a devotee went to visit the famous pilgrimage sight and bought the Laddoo, but to his surprise, the Laddoo weighed much less than the actual weight. He argued about the Laddoo’s weight to the person selling it and made a video of it, which is being circulated all over social media. (Images courtesy: Instagram/@tirupati_the_spiritual_capital & Instagram/@l.i_status)

This video was first uploaded on YouTube, where the devotee got the Laddoo weighed by the Laddoo counter staff and the weighing machine showed it to be about 90-100 gms in repeated attempts. This has created a controversy in the media as people are getting confused about its actual weight. There is a note about this Laddoo prasadam just outside the counter, which says that the prescribed weight of this Laddoo is somewhere between 160 to 180 grams. Ever since the video has gone viral, harsh criticism has been pouring on the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) and the state government for the cheating that’s being done with the devotees. (Images courtesy: Instagram/@ttdevasthanams_official)

Here is the YouTube link to the viral video: The viral Tirupati weight scam

However, the TTD officials have responded to the criticism that there is complete transparency in the production and distribution of SriVari Laddus. As per the official statement by the TTD management, “The Laddoo prasadam has never weighed less than 160 gms. What the video showed may have been a technical glitch in the weighing machine at that particular Laddoo counter.” It further claimed that “After Laddoos are prepared in SriVari Potu (temple kitchen), the Potu workers load them in a tray, which is weighed by TTD officials every day before this is dispatched to the sale counters. The difference of minus 70 grams (as shown in the video) is only because of the technical problem that occurred in the Laddoo weighing machine and lack of knowledge on the same by the contract workers.” (Image courtesy: Instagram/@tirupati_the_spiritual_capital)

As per the temple officials, the Tirupati Laddoo was introduced in the year 1715 as a naivedhyam and is more than 300 years old. What is surprising to note is that the quality and quantity of sacred prasadam has never been short, even during the peak season, and has even got the Geographical Indications (GI) tag from the officials in the year 2014. Invented during the Pallava dynasty’s rule, this Laddoo is prepared using gram flour or besan, pure ghee, cardamom powder, cashews, sugar, raisins and sugar candy. (Images courtesy: Canva)