TIRUMALA: In preparation for the upcoming Vaikuntha Ekadasi festivities, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Trust Board convened an emergency meeting at Annamayya Bhavan on Tuesday, under the chairmanship of BR Naidu.
TTD Executive Officer AK Singhal, Additional EO Ch Venkaiah Chowdary, CV&SO Murali Krishna, and other senior officials were present.
The TTD Board took several major decisions aimed at ensuring hassle-free darshan, and providing greater access to common devotees. Vaikuntha Dwara Darshan will be held for 10 days, from December 30 to January 8, with a total of 182 hours of darshan time. Of this, 164 hours have been exclusively allotted to common pilgrims as per the directive of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.
For the first three days—Vaikuntha Ekadasi (Dec 30), Dwadasi (Dec 31), and Trayodasi (Jan 1)—darshan tokens will be issued only through a newly introduced AI-driven E-Dip system. Devotees must register between November 27 and December 1 via the TTD website, mobile app, or the dedicated Vaikuntha Darshan app. On December 2, the E-Dip system will randomly select 70,000 devotees for Ekadasi, 75,000 for Dwadasi, and 68,000 for Trayodasi. No open queue lines will be available on these three days, and only those with E-Dip tokens will be allowed for darshan. Each registration can include up to four members, and the platform supports Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Hindi and English languages.
From January 2 to 8, pilgrims can access Vaikuntha Dwara Darshan through direct entry without tokens. During this period, 15,000 Special Entry Darshan (Rs 300) tickets and 1,000 SRIVANI (Rs 10,000 donation-based) tickets will be released online daily.
Additionally, 5,000 tokens per day will be reserved for Tirupati and Tirumala locals on January 6, 7 and 8, available on a first-come, first-served basis through online booking.
The TTD urged devotees not to visit Tirumala without valid tokens on the first three days, and emphasised that all arrangements are being made to ensure a smooth, transparent, and spiritually fulfilling experience for pilgrims.