Andhra Pradesh suspends Lord Venkateswara temple property auction by TTD

Tirupati: Amid strict opposition by several leaders and devotees alike on the proposed auction of 50 immovable 'unviable' properties of Lord Venkateswara, the Andhra Pradesh government on Monday decided to suspend the activity.

The government asked the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) to re-examine its decision and consult devotees and other religious heads on the decision. Several property located at mulitple places were donated by devotees to the temple trust. The property are located at Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Rishikesh in Uttarakhand.

"Keeping in view the sentiments of devotees, the government hereby directs TTD to re-examine the issue in consultation with different stakeholders like religious elders, opinion makers, section of devotees etc.," the government said in an order released on Monday.

The TTD was asked to consider if these property could be used for construction of temples, dharma pracharam and other religious activities.

On Sunday, TTD Chairman Y V Subba Reddy had said that the immovable property included tiny houses and plots measuring between one cent (approximately 400 sq feet) and 5 cents and farming lands between 10 cents and below one acre and that they were non-maintainable and non-revenue generating for TTD. He called it "very petty and unviable."

He further added that there were 26 and 23 such properties in Andhra and Tamil Nadu, respectively and one in Rishikesh. The property auction was expected to fetch a total of about Rs 24 crore.