The dearth of rain this season, attributed to El Nino, has brought pressure on the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) to conduct the ‘Varuna Yagam’, a ritual meant to propitiate the rain god, Varuna.

The TTD has conducted such rituals in the past in the interest of common good and global well-being.

Former TTD trust board chairman Bhumana Karunakar Reddy criticised the administration of the Sri Venkateswara temple at Tirumala for not considering the ritual, when smaller temples such as the Sri Mallikarjuna Devasthanam at Srisailam and the Durga Malleswara Devasthanam at Vijayawada had taken it up in response to public sentiment.

“Being the largest temple trust in the world that claims to be the torch-bearer of Sanatana Dharma, it is the bounden duty of the TTD to conduct ‘Varuna Yagam’ to help the global farming community tide over the crisis,” he said.

He recalled that the TTD had conducted scores of such rituals during the COVID-19 pandemic, to bring calm to stressed minds and provide moral strength to the devout.