K V Kurmanath

Hyderabad, Feb. 12 It’s thumbs down for basmati rice in ‘anna prasadams’, a slew of prasadams mostly made of rice, given to pilgrims at the abode of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala, at least for now.

Though the proposal got a nod from the board of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) sometime ago, the administration has decided to go slow on the decision to use the typically ‘biryani’ rice for prasadams.

At its December 2007 meeting, the board had passed a resolution to use long-stapled, aromatic basmati rice to add flavour to the prasadams. The temple offers prasadams such as pulihaara (rice leavened with tamarind paste), perugannam (curd rice), chakkera pongali (rice sweetened with jaggery) and sira as naivedhyam to the Lord, and then distributes them to thousands of pilgrims.

“We have taken a decision. It is up to the administration to implement it after studying the possibilities,” Mr B Karunakara Reddy, Chairman of the Board, told Business Line over phone from Tirupati. The executive officials, however, are not forthcoming on the possible date for implementing the board decision.

According to informed sources, the proposal has been dropped, at least for now. “There is an opinion that the basmati rice variety should not be used for prasadams. The decision seems to have been deferred,” they said.

“Apart from their devotional value, the anna prasadams are known for their taste even when we use the traditional rice varieties available in the State. There is no point in shifting to basmati,” they said.

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