The Sri Venkateswara temple's chief priest AV Ramana Dikshithulu triggered off a fresh controversy in Tirumala on Friday after he allegedly changed the 'namam' on the temple's deity.
According to Deccan Chronicle, Pedda Jeeyar Swamy, one of the hereditary chiefs of the Jiyyangar Mutt reportedly complained to TTD officials that Ramana had changed the namam on the forehead of the Lord on Friday.
Priests of the Vadakalai sect wear the Tirunamam or U-shaped namam, while those of the Tenkalai sect wear it in the shape of the alphabet ‘Y’.
This comes even as Ramana faces a notice from the TTD for allegedly taking his grandson into the sanctum sanctorum of the temple during the recent Brahmotsavam.
Addressing reporters, Ramana denied the charges as baseless and unfortunate and said that the namam was applied in the presence of both the temple seers and he didn’t indulge in any kind of tampering.
He also alleged that he was being unnecessarily victimised.
A similar incident had occurred last year, when one of the sects planned to approach a court of law against the other sect.
The DC report adds that the priest that triggered off the protests last year, AV Arun Dikshitulu, was the son of Ramana, and was shifted to the Srivari temple at Alipiri after the incident.