Apr 26, 2007, 15:51 GMT
Hyderabad, April 26 (IANS) Authorities at Tirupati temple in Andhra Pradesh Thursday ordered a probe into the VIP treatment given to the family of Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan during their recent visit to the temple.
K.V. Ranachary, executive officer, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) has been asked to probe the issue, which caused severe inconvenience to thousands of devotees.
Amitabh's actor son Abhishek and Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai had visited the temple to seek the blessings of Lord Venkateshwara April 22, two days after their high-profile marriage in Mumbai. Amitabh, his wife Jaya Bachchan, their daughter Shweta and her family members, industrialist Anil Ambani and his family members had also accompanied the newly-wed.
The group comprising about 30 people were given VIP treatment and were taken to the sanctum sanctorum through VIP entrance by some TTD officials in violation of the temple rules.
TTD, which manages the affairs of the country's richest temple, met in Tirupati Thursday and took serious note of the incident in the wake of complaints by devotees.
More than 50,000 devotees, who were standing in queues were barred from entering the temple for four hours during the visit by Bachchan family.
According to TTD sources, the meeting that was presided over by TTD chairman B. Karunakar Reddy, asked the officials not to accord VIP treatment to film personalities and industrialists. It reiterated that under the TTD protocol rules only ministers, MPs, MLAs and judges should be given VIP treatment.
© 2007 Indo-Asian News Service
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