Tirumala opens doors to devotees today

The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) is all set to resume Srivari darshan at Tirumala for devotees from Thursday.

People line up at Alipiri from 6 am to get tokens for darshan on Wednesday. Due to the long queue the TTD issued tokens from 7 am, an hour earlier than planned | Madhav K

TIRUMALA: The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) is all set to resume Srivari darshan at Tirumala for devotees from Thursday. Though it initially proposed to provide darshan to 6,000 devotees a day, after conducting trial runs, the TTD is now likely to allow even more people in. The trial runs were conducted with TTD staff and locals over three days, and tickets for devotees are being sold online and at Tirupati.

“We will increase the number of pilgrims allowed for darshan per hour every day,” TTD Trust Board Chairman YV Subba Reddy told TNIE, and stressed the need to educate devotees on practices to follow to contain the spread of Covid-19.

Subba Reddy said that while the TTD intended to allow 6,000 employees and locals each day during the trial runs, they could provide darshan to 6,500 on the first day, 8,500 on the second day, and 7,100 on the third day. In all, the TTD provided darshan to 21,982 pilgrims over three days and the Hundi collection stood at Rs 45.95 lakh.

“We can increase the numbers while strictly following physical distancing norms,” he said, adding that darshan will now be provided to pilgrims after a gap of 80 days. “Within a couple of days, we will increase the number of pilgrims allowed per day to 10,000. The only thing we have to do is educate devotees and make sure they follow the instructions so the spread of Covid-19 can be contained,” Subba Reddy said.
Meanwhile, the TTD commenced issuing of offline tokens for Srivari darshan on Wednesday.

All Online tickets booked till June 20

• Officials said tickets were being sold online for visits till June 30, and all tickets for visits till June 20 have already been booked
• Most tickets for darshan between June 20 and 30 have also been booked, they added

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