Tirupati priest steals temple jewels to marry daughters

Last Updated: Saturday, August 22, 2009, 13:06

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Tags: Tirupati priest, steal, ornaments, daughters, Tirumala

Zeenews Bureau

Tirupati: In a shocking and first such incident, a head priest of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) has confessed to stealing ornaments from the temple to marry his daughters.

The accused, identified as Kattu Venkata Ramana Dikshitulu, is the head priest of Lord Sri Kodanda Ramaswamy temple in Tirupati. The incident came to light after the priest was questioned by TTD officials when they found ornaments worth nearly Rs 10 lakh missing during the stock-taking of the temple jewellery.

“I know I have committed a crime. I have three daughters and poverty forced me to do this,” the priest said.

According to the police, he stole the ornaments two years ago and mortgaged it to a moneylender and borrowed money from him. “The priest has confessed to the theft. He claims he would have got the necklace back in a few months by repaying the debt,” an official said.

Taking serious view of the incident, the TTD suspended the priest and booked a case against him. It also a vigilance officer and two guards at the temple apart from one Shah Akella, the custodian of the God’s jewels during the time.

The Venkateshwara shrine owns about 12 tonnes of gold and diamond jewellery, worth Rs 52,000 crore, some dating back to the 12th century.

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First Published: Saturday, August 22, 2009, 13:06

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Niranjan - Bangalore
Err Mr/Ms reporter I think you have committed a grave error.``Priest sole jewels to marry daughter``Do you mean he married his daughter or did you mean he wanted to get her married.

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Ramya - Tenali
Guys, note this is not the main temple of Lord Venkateswara. It is a different temple on Tirumala. However, the fact remains that this unfortunate priest was really poor. Marrying daughters in India is a costly affair.
Also, he mortgaged and jewellery and would have got it back after repaying the debt.
The priests are generally poor which is very unfortunate. In any case, this is nothing compared to what our politicians and business men in India do.

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sathish - seoul, korea
will God insist on wearing diamond necklaces or pouring money into `His account` when people are struggling to make ends meet? i don` t mean to say that take all the money from the temples/churches/mosques and give it to the people. try to give more to the poor people around you than what you give to God.

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Ajay - Krishna
Its really unfortunate that the priest had to stole the jewels to marry his 3 daughters. Its more unfortunate that the TTD officials chose to file a police complaint instead of understanding the situation under which the head priest was forced to stole the jewels. Its shows the pathetic state of affairs at TTD. TTD board is occupied by the rich & powerful, who don`t give a damn either about the employees or the piligirms. Its high time priest are paid well, so that they can have a decent standard of living. The complaint against the priest should be withdrawn and he should be given his job back. More importantly his salary should be increased so that he can payback the debt and live a decent standard of living.

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Jai - Bahrain
As usual the hurry is to jump upon the person who committed a mistake and not to look for root cause. Why dont we ask ourselves the following.

If tirupati is world`s richest temple why was the priest suffering from poverty?

What kind of a security system does this temple have which allows jewels worth 10laks to be stolen away only to wait for it getting revealed after a month`s stock taking?

It is a widely known fact that besides temples and trust being rich and fabulous priests across Hindu socitey continues to live in poverty. No excuses justifies a crime. A crime need to be looked at it`s severity and the person who did it deserves due punishment. No two ways about it. But if there are bigger crimes which need to be looked in to such as distribution of wealth among deserving people and exploitation Hindu as a community should not over look the same.

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Syed Anwar Zaidi - New Delhi
Dear Devotees don`t offer Gold, Money to God/Allah/Bhagwan. He/She doen`t need money or Gold, which He/She Himself/Herself provided us by His/Her blessings. Instead wants from us to have faith in Him/Her and also wants from us to help the needy. Then only, He/She will be more happy with us.

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PP TALWAR - india
It is a shoking news that the head priest of the world`s riches temple in Tirupati had stooped so low in stealing the precious gems and jewellery of Lord Venkateshwara for his personal gains, to spend the money on the weddings of his daughers. Going by the adage that when the guard himself becomes a theif, there is no remedy except to grant stringent punishment to him and even send him to gallows to teach a lesson to others in induging in such heinous cimes.