TIRUPATI: Perhaps for the first time in its history, the Srivari Temple in Tirumala will be closed to devotees for a week, from 6 pm on August 9 to 6 am on August 17, in view of a cleansing ritual that is performed every 12 years. The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Trust Board, which held an emergency meeting on Saturday, decided to suspend darshan during the period to avoid inconvenience to pilgrims.
Briefing the media after the meeting, TTD Trust Board chairman Putta Sudhakar Yadav announced that the unique fete, called Astabandhana Balalaya Mahasamprokshanam, begins with Ankurarpanam on August 11. The most significant part of the ritual will get underway on August 12. “As importance will be placed on Vedic rituals in the temple, the time for providing darshan to pilgrims will be minimal,” he explained and pointed out that over 5.5 lakh pilgrims usually visit the temple in the second week of August. “Keeping this in view, we have decided to dispense with darshan to avoid hardship to the pilgrims,” he said.
Pilgrims will not be allowed to enter the Vaikuntam Queue Complex for darshan, he added. The Alipiri ghat road and the two pathways at Alipiri and Srivari Mettu will also be closed.On why darshan would be suspended for so long, Yadav recalled that in 2006, when the ritual was performed last, the footfall used to be just around 20,000-25,000 per day. “Now it is different. Around one lakh pilgrims visit the hill shrine and the decision to stop them at Alipiri itself was taken to ensure the smooth conduct of the ritual.”