“Fact Check: “No Denial of Entry into Temple for Dalits in Tirupati District” – Villagers Condemn Media Reports”, Arise Bharat, 2023:

“By the time we reached the temple where the incident is said to have happened, female pujari (priestess) belonging to OBC community was seen performing her daily Pujas to the holy deity and distributing Prasadams (food offered to Holy Diety) to devotees of different communities”

Recently in Gollapalli village situated in Tirupati district of Andhra Pradesh, there were reports in some section of media as well as social media that temple entry was denied to the members of Scheduled Castes. Contrary to media reports, a factual investigation based on physical visit to the village and interview with the temple priestess, revealed a different scenario – a temporary closure of the temple doors was wrongly reported as denial of temple entry to members of Scheduled Castes.

On 20 August 2023, popular Telugu TV channel – TV9 telecast a news item stating that Dalits were denied entry into Polakshamma temple at Gollapalli village of Puttur Mandal in Tirupati District. Later, several major news sites like The Hindu, The News Minute, Times of India, and The New Indian Express published similar news with catchy titles creating an impression that the incident had really happened in the said village…..”

Read the full article at Arisebharat.com