HYDERABAD, INDIA, June 2, 2003: A coconut in the hands of a devotee is unlikely to cause any alarm. For security analysts, however, the humble offering could well be stuffed with explosives and used with maximum effect to launch an Akshardham-type attack. The very thought of such a scenario being enacted in Tirumala has made the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) contemplate shifting of Akhilandam, the place where coconuts are offered, away from the Sri Venkateswara Swami temple. Normally devotees break the coconuts near the “mahadwaram” (main entrance). Now they have to go at least 250 yards away from the main entrance to offer the coconuts. A seven-foot fencing separating the place from the main temple is also proposed. The compulsory dress code for men of dhoti (cloth waist wrap) and “angavastra” (a narrow shawl thrown around the shoulders) would make it impossible for anybody to conceal any weapon and gain entry into the temple.
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