VIJAYAWADA: To bring transparency in the services offered by the Endowments Department, a special software was developed for introducing an online ticket system in nine major temples in the State from September 20, said Deputy Chief Minister and Endowments Minister Kottu Satyanarayana.
The temples to get online ticket facility are Sri Varasidhi Vinayaka Swamy Temple (Kanipakam), Sri Bhramaramba Mallikarjuna Temple (Srisailam), Sri Durga Malleswara Swamy Varla Devasthanam (Vijayawada), Sri Veera Venkata Satyanarayana Temple (Annavaram), Sri Lakshmi Tirupatamma Temple (Penuganchiprolu), Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha temple (Simhachalam), Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple (Vadapalli), Sri Venkateswara Swamy Vari Devasthanam (Dwaraka Tirumala) and Sri Siddi Vinayaka Swamy Temple (Ainavilli).
Speaking to the media here on Tuesday, Satyanarayana said that steps were being taken to implement the online ticket system in 10 more temples, considering the influx of devotees. An exercise has begun on promotions and three employees have already been promoted as deputy commissioners. The maiden meeting of the Dharmika Parishad will be held on October 10. Special attention has been paid to the settlement of pending cases in the tribunal for which the chairman was appointed, retired IAS M Padmani was appointed as a member and other members will also be appointed soon. Nine standing councils will be formed soon.
Dasara festival
Informing the arrangements being made for the 10-day Dasara festivities at Indrakeeladri, Satyanarayana said that darshan will be arranged in five slots for VIPs, and no slots will be implemented for ordinary devotees, who can have darshan at anytime from 3 am to 11 pm.Only the Chief Minister, Governor and Chief Justice will be allowed to have Antaralaya Darshan.
A plan of action was being devised to provide darshan of the goddess to as many common devotees as possible.“We are allocating a special time slot for VIPs so that common devotees do not face troubles. A special software has been designed for arranging time-slot darshan. A total of five slots have been allocated for VIPs -- from am to 5 am, 6 am to 8 am, 10 am to 12 pm, 2 pm to 4 pm, and 8 pm to 10 pm. VIP tickets will be sold for `2,000 per two hour slot and there will be a fixed fee of `500. Of these, 600 tickets are for VIPs and the remaining 1,400 tickets will be available online for all devotees,” the minister said.
Special slots have been arranged for the disabled and elderly from 9 am to 10 am and from 5 pm to 6 pm. The common devotees will be given an opportunity for darshan from 3 am to 11 pm every day during the festivities.
A decision was taken by giving an opportunity to the MLA, MLC, MP, Chairman and public representatives to write a letter of recommendation. He said that through recommendation letters, only six people will have a chance to have a darshan on a `500 ticket. Around 70,000 devotees per day are expected to visit Indrakeeladri during the Dasara festival and two lakh devotees are expected to throng the hill shrine on the Moola Nakshatram.
No recommendation letters and time slots for darshan will be available on Moola Nakshatra day. The minister said that special arrangements have been made at the Kalyana Mandapam for Bhavani devotees. Earlier , there were 300 showers at the tonsure hall for bathing and the number has been increased to 700.