It’s sweet news for pilgrims on padayatra to Tirumala this Brahmotsavam. For the first time, they will be given free laddus.
N Kanniah, general secretary of SRMU and a trustee of the Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam Board said at a meeting organised by the board here on Wednesday that it had been decided to give free laddus to the pilgrims who walk to Tirumala from Alipiri, which is on the foothills of Tirumala, during Brahmotsavam, which begins on October 5. “We expect about 30,000 pilgrims on padayatra every day,” he said.
All pilgrims will get free water and food. There will be 150 doctors on duty to attend to emergencies. The number of APSRTC mini buses plying to Tirumala from Alipiri had also been increased from 80 to 106 during the festival, he said. “Both Kachiguda Express and Saptagiri Express will have two extra general compartments and the latter will have one chair car for the pilgrims from Tamil Nadu,” Kanniah informed.