TIRUPATI: The TTD has made it mandatory for pilgrims to furnish the two-dose Covid-19 vaccination certificate or a Covid negative test report for darshan of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala. This rule is applicable to those who book either Slotted Sarva Darshan (free darshan) tokens or special entry darshan tickets.
After a gap of five months, the TTD has decided to resume general darshan from September 25. It had stopped issuing SSD tokens in view of Covid. After the second wave of Covid subsided, the TTD issued tokens to people of Chittoor district alone on a pilot basis. Now, the TTD is all set to resume issuance of SSD tokens for common pilgrims.
TTD Trust Board Chairman YV Subba Reddy, in a statement on Wednesday, said 8,000 special entry online darshan tickets per day will be released at 9 am on September 24. Similarly, 8,000 SSD tokens per day will be released online for the period of September 26 to October 31 at 9 am on September 25.
“We will stop issuing offline SSD tokens in Tirupati from September 26. A decision to this effect has been taken for the safety of pilgrims,” he said, urging all pilgrims to strictly adhere to Covid protocol.