YSR Congress Party undivided Chittoor district president and former TTD chairman Bhumana Karunakar Reddy on Friday alleged that the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams management was planning to end Veda Parayanam at the temple and termed it a sacrilege of the highest order.However, the TTD condemned the remarks of Mr. Reddy and said that there was never any plan to end Veda Parayanam.Mr. Reddy at a media conference here on Friday (June 20) also accused a senior Devasthanams official of recently making fun of Veda Parayanam and terming it ‘a waste of time’.He questioned how the officials of the temple management, who are required to uphold the Vedic Dharma, could make such irresponsible comments and belittle the age old traditions followed for centuries at the ancient temple.He also accused that the TTD authorities under the new regime were subjecting the priests to harassment by forcing them to undergo physical frisking, a practice that never existed in the past.Making light of TTD Chairman B.R. Naidu’s oft-repeated phrase ‘Artificial intelligence’ to provide quick Darshan to pilgrims, Mr. Reddy said that the devotees were not even allowed into the queue lines to avoid showing rush and thus painting a rosy picture.Responding strongly, the TTD management condemned all the above allegations and also refuted allegation that priests were subjected to physical frisking.The frisking of employees entering and exiting the Parakamani currency counting centre, a long existing practice, was further strengthened by putting in place a Standard Operating Procedure, in view of an incident in 2023.Published - June 20, 2025 07:25 pm IST