The presiding deity is Lord Venkateswara. Devotees perform pujas on Saturdays, share some amount and keep it in the mudupu (a yellow cloth).
They reach the hill shrine within a year and offer the mudupu in the God’s hundi, which is a practice since 12th century. Lord Venkateswara is also known as the god who generously bestows wealth.
FOOTFALLS
On an average, 83,674 visit the temple every day. The annual volume of devotees crosses three crore. The most important days on which the pilgrim influx is at its peak are the nine-day Brahmotsavam, known as ‘Salakatla brahmotsavam’, which ended on October 13 this year. On Vaikunta Ekadasi, nearly two lakh devotees throng the temple. Just to ensure that all devotees have a glimpse of the deity, the Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanams (TTD) also celebrates ‘Dwadasi’. Another rush time is after the Makara Jyothi when lakhs of Ayyappa devotees reach Tirumala after darshan at Sabarimala in Kerala. Average hundi collection is `90 crore a day and last year hundi collection crossed Rs 600 crore.
CROWD MANAGEMENT
Systematic crowd control management is in practice. Recently, the administration widened the four streets around the temple where processions during Brahmotsavams are held. Security staff and officers are deployed to manage the crowd. All queues and complexes are manned by TTD Vigilance and Security. The queues are monitored by an IAS and an IPS officer. All ways leading to Tirumala are monitored by them. Based on the number of pilgrims, the vigilance department deploys staff to the Central Reception Office, pathways and roads to maintain traffic and queues. Also, devotees are informed about the position and the expected time of darshan, through public address system.
The temple is under surveillance with 2,000 CCTV cameras.