Pilgrim rush in Tirumala, darshan takes 28 hours

TIRUMALA

: The sacred abode of Lord Venkateswara reeled under heavy

pilgrim

rush as devotees continued to pour in on the eve of Purattasi, considered auspicious by Tamils.


The influx of devotees to Tirumala continued to rise sharply since Thursday as the waiting time for darshan, which was around 18 hours, touched 24-hour mark on Friday.

With ‘Purattasi Saturdays’ considered auspicious by pilgrims from Tamil Nadu, the waiting time for darshan stretched close to 28 hours on Saturday.

Serpentine queues were seen for darshan, accommodation, and laddu counters. Groups of devotees had to wait patiently in 3-km long queues to even enter the Vaikuntam Q complex.

With no respite from the influx, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams imposed curbs on various privilege darshans and VIP break darshan on Saturday.

Accommodation counters remained closed as Tirumala registered close to 100% occupancy ratio by afternoon itself. Devotees who reached Tirumala later in the day were forced to take shelter along the footpath and temporary shelter zones in Tirumala.

TTD officials are closely monitoring pilgrim movement besides other arrangements.

According to TTD sources, about 1.6 lakh devotees offered prayers to Lord Venkateswara on Thursday and Friday, while more than a lakh devotees are awaiting their turn for darshan as on Saturday. Meanwhile, the temple registered an income of ?3.36 crore through Hundi collections in the past 24 hours.

TTD officials, led by JEO KS Sreenivasa Raju and CVSO T Siva Kumar Reddy, are coordinating the speedy clearance of pilgrims in queues to reduce the waiting time for darshan.