VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said that the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) should become an address for spirituality, ‘annadanam’, education and health.
He said priority should be given for quick and hassle-free darshan for devotees, and the TTD devotees’ portal should be linked to RTGS.
Chairing a review meeting on the TTD and Endowments Department at the State Secretariat on Thursday, the Chief Minister said that all the hospitals being maintained by the TTD should render services on par with the Sri Sathya Sai Hospital at Puttaparthi. He said medical experts should be invited as Srivari sevaks to render free medical services to the people. He said all services should be brought under WhatsApp governance for the convenience of devotees, and elaborate arrangements should be made for Vaikunta Ekadasi darshan.
The Chief Minister said that all the 5,000 temples to be developed in the State should be redesigned to reflect spirituality and peace. When officials informed the Chief Minister about the construction of eight TTD temples in various States, the Chief Minister said all TTD temples being developed in other States and countries should be affiliated to the main temple at Tirumala to maintain transparency in temple funds.
The Chief Minister directed the TTD authorities to take up an innovative programme to speed up the darshan facility for common devotees. The temple authorities said that at present eight devotees are having darshan per minute and priority is being given to common devotees during the festival season. They said efforts are on for automation of kitchens to provide Annaprasadam to 2.75 lakh people. They said sanitation is being supervised through a dedicated app.
The discussions mainly focused on implementing the best practices in the Tirumala temple in all other temples.
Earlier in the day, the Chief Minister laid the foundation for the expansion works to be taken up in two phases at the TTD Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple at Venkatapalem of Amaravati at an estimated cost of `260 crore.
He laid the foundation for the Mahaprakaram Chaturdwara Gopuram today.
The Chief Minister said that in the first phase, the Maha Prakaram around the temple, Maha Rajagopuram, Arjita Seva Mandapam, Ratha Mandapam, Anjaneyaswamy temple and Pushkarini will be developed; and in the second phase, the Mada street around the temple, approach roads, annadana complex, rest houses for devotees, residential complex for archakas and staff, administrative buildings, Dhyana Mandir and vehicle parking facilities will be developed.
Stating that the AP capital was named Amaravati with the sankalpam of Sri Venkateswara Swamy, the Chief Minister said that he grew up in the vicinity of Lord Venkateswara in Tirupati.