Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan who has embarked on an 11-day ‘Prayaschitta Diksha’ in response to the alleged adulteration of the sacred Tirumala Laddu Prasadam in Tirupati temple visited Sri Kanaka Durga Temple in Vijayawada on Tuesday. 

As part of this spiritual atonement, Kalyan performed a purification ritual at the Sri Kanaka Durga Temple.

Further, Kalyan is also expected walk the Alipiri route to Tirumala on October 1, culminating his deeksha with darshan at the Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple on October 2. He will conclude the ‘Prayaschitta Diksha’ by addressing the ‘Varahi Sabha’ in Tirupati on October 3.

However, his purification ritual comes even as a devotee claimed to have found tobacco sachet in the laddu received at the temple as prasad on September 19. 

#WATCH | Andhra Pradesh Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan arrives at Kanaka Durga Temple, in Vijayawada to perform a purification ritual, as part of his 11-day ‘Prayaschitta Diksha’. pic.twitter.com/ib90Lib1sE

— ANI (@ANI) September 24, 2024

ALSO READ: WATCH: Devotee Claims Tobacco Found In Tirupati Laddu Amid ‘Animal Fat’ Controversy

The 11-day atonement follows the discovery of adulterated ghee in the preparation of the Tirumala laddu, a sacred offering to the devotees. The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) last week claimed that a Gujarat-based laboratory had confirmed adulteration in the laddu, including the presence of animal fat.

Following this, the Deputy CM, distressed by the controversy surrounding the adulteration, expressed his deep anguish over what he described as an attack on the sanctity of Tirumala’s revered prasadam. “I am deeply hurt on a personal level by the malicious attempts made to infuse impurity in the prasad of Sri Tirupati Balaji Dham, the centre of our culture, faith, belief, and devotion,” Kalyan shared in a post on X (formerly Twitter). He added that he felt “cheated from within” and has committed himself to seek divine forgiveness.