Theft at Tirupati temple, 3 diamond-studded golden crowns go missing

Three crowns belonging to the processional deities at the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam temple went missing on Saturday evening, the police said. The golden crowns adorning the deities Lord Govinda Raja Swamy and his consorts Bhudevi and Sri Devi were found missing.

Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanams (TTD) Assistant Executive Officer Kola Bhaskar said the theft was noticed around 10.30 pm on Saturday and the TTD’s vigilance wing immediately informed the police, as reported by the Hindustan Times. The police are investigating the exact of the cause of events. According to TTD Joint Executive Officer, P Bhaskar, priests at one of the 18 sub-temples in Sri Govindaraja Swamy temple noticed that the three diamond-studded golden crowns missing. The main doors of the temple were closed after the evening ritual of naivedyam (offering to God) was offered to the deities. When the doors were re-opened half-an-hour later, the crowns were found missing, he said.

The crown adorning deity Govinda Raja Swamy weighs 528 grams while those of Sri Devi and Bhu Devi weigh 528 grams and 408 grams, respectively. As there were no visitors after naivedyam, the police are suspecting one of the temple staffers to be involved in the theft, Bhaskar said as quoted by the daily.