For lakhs of pilgrims, quality darshan still a mirage in Tirumala

TIRUPATI: For lakhs of pilgrims visiting Tirumala, 24 hours in a day do not seem to be enough to savour the grandeur of Lord Venkateswara. Annually 2.5-3 crore pilgrims have darshan of the Lord. But the day is not far-off when nearly 5-6 crore pilgrims would swarm the hilltop temple. Is Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) prepared to handle pilgrim rush of such a magnitude?
While 60% of the pilgrims avail free darshan of the Lord, Rs 50 Sudarshan token holders constitute 16% of the total pilgrims. Pilgrims of Rs 300 Pratyeka Pravesha (special entry) darshan stand third at 13%. Seven lakh seva ticket holders, 7.5 lakh physically challenged persons and four lakh parents of infants, besides seven lakh VIP Break darshan ticket holders (constituting 3%) complete the total pilgrim arrival. But the maximum hours available for the pilgrims in a day are 19-20 and on some days it falls to 14 hours on account of special rituals and sevas.
Senior officials say the average time available for the pilgrims is 17.25 hours – non-VIPs 15.4 hours and VIPs 1.42 hours – though the VIPs end up spending 3-4 hours thus eating into common pilgrims’ visiting hours. With a minimum of 45,000 to a maximum of 1.25 lakh daily arrivals (at an average arrival of 70,000), the TTD has a gigantic task of providing faster and quality darshan to the pilgrims. Since convergence of pilgrims is very high on New Year, festivals, Brahmotsavams, Vaikunta Ekadasi, summer holidays and auspicious days, pilgrim management becomes a herculean task.
What’s the way forward? “The way to manage the queues is by either reducing the inflows or increasing the rate of outflows or both. Estimate the average number of pilgrims waiting for darshan and the average waiting time of pilgrims in queues. Inflows can be controlled by prior booking to a large extent,” explains A Kesavarao, retired IIM-Bangalore professor. Increasing the number of channels of entry and exit into the main temple complex and setting up parallel queue (2-3 instead of a single) lines enabling more pilgrims to have darshan is another way-out. For instance, 72,000 pilgrims can have darshan in a day (20 hours-72,000 seconds) with a darshan time of one second in a single line but the numbers could go up to 1.4 lakh if two lines are organized.
Similarly, 24,000 pilgrims can be accommodated with a darshan span of 3 seconds in a single line and the numbers could treble with three queue lines with the same darshan time.
“An integrated and holistic approach on darshan, accommodation, prasadams and transport should be devised. Also, the TTD should calculate the time available for darshan on a daily basis after accounting for all the mandatory rituals for the Lord, temple closures for eclipses, cleansing, etc.,” entrepreneur TN Dhanraj Tirumala, an expert in computer simulation, points out. He says a mathematical module is possible to chart out hourly/daily/monthly/yearly schedules to manage the surging crowds.
While use of technology holds key to handle the massive pilgrim influx, providing accommodation for the pilgrims is another important area. “On any given day, 65,000 pilgrims can stay in TTD, private guest houses and mathams. Three pilgrims amenities complexes alone can accommodate 20,000,” says joint executive officer K S Srinivasa Raju. Experts say pilgrims overstaying beyond allotted time in cottages, choultries and paid accommodations should be strictly curbed.
A former EO suggests one darshan per pilgrim a year against the culture of multiple visits. “Through biometric system this can be monitored,” he says. “Also, do not allow more than 60,000 up the hill and construct a massive transit halt at Tirupati for those coming in. Once those who had darshan come down, send the waiting pilgrims up,” he says.
Seer Kamalananda Bharati Swamy has a radical proposal to overcome the problem. “Rebuild a bigger temple without disturbing the Moolavirat on the lines of Puri Jagannath temple which can accommodate 1,000 pilgrims in a single row because of its large space,” he says. He, however, says Agama pandits would never approve of this idea. BJP leader Samanchi Srinivas says priests and pandits should ponder over this for the benefit of pilgrims.
(This concludes the series on the affairs of Lord Balaji's hilltop temple in Tirumala)