Tirumala Temple former chief priest Srinivasa Murthy Deekshitulu dies of Coronavirus

He was one of the four chief priests who are Mirasi (hereditary) Archaka including Ramana Deekshithu made to retire by TTD after they attained 65 years of age, two years back resulting in controversy still going on.

Deekshitulu contracted with coronavirus a few days ago. He was treated at Tirupati SVIMs Hospital for four days and passed away on Monday morning. Srinivasa Murthy Deekshitulu served as the Chief Priest of the Tirumala Srivari Temple for over 20 years. He could have a farewell in the traditional manner on behalf of the temple. However, he died of a coronavirus and his body could not be handed over to his family.

Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh state has registered as many as 5401 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday taking the total tally to 49,650 along with 56 new deaths with ten in East Godavari, eight in Srikakulam, seven each in Kurnool, Krishna and Visakhapatnam, four in Prakasam, three each in Anantapur, Kadapa, Vizianagaram, two each in Guntur and Krishna.