The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams(TTD) on Friday issued orders restoring the positions of all retired archakas (priests) held by them prior to their retirement in 2018.
The orders are considered a sequel to the judgment pronounced by the A.P. High Court in December 2018 while dealing with a writ petition filed by the archakas. Following the orders, speculations are rife that the orders will pave way for A.V. Ramana Deekshitulu to regain his lost position as the chief priest of the hill temple.
It was in May 2018 that the TTD board unanimously passed a resolution retiring all the archakas who had attained the age of 65. Subsequently, several senior priests, including Ramana Deekshitulu, Narasimha Deekshitulu, Srinivasa Murthy Deekshitulu and Narayana Deekshitulu, belonging to erstwhile mirasidar families were forced to retire.
To avoid any kind of controversy, TTD had then appointed four archakas from the same families.
