The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) has decided to buy whole cashew nuts and split them with the help of the Srivari Seva volunteers, in an attempt to deal with the paucity in procurement of split cashew nuts used in the preparation of laddus and other prasadams at the temple of Lord Venkateswara.
The TTD, on an average, needs around 35 quintal to 40 quintal cashew nuts daily for the preparation of prasadams. Going by the huge requirement and the shortage in the availability of split nuts, the TTD launched the cashew nut splitting service at its go downs in Tirupati on March 21. A whopping 26,000 kg cashew nuts have been split during the past 52 days.
To encourage larger participation of volunteers, the TTD launched the splitting of cashew nuts at the Srivari Seva Sadan – II here on Thursday.
“The temple trust board is aware that certain giant firms in Visakhapatnam and Bengaluru have employed machines to split cashew nuts. A trial-run has been conducted in this regard. The TTD is ready to procure such machines,” said TTD Executive Officer A.V. Dharma Reddy.
