Heavy rush at Tirumala: Six pilgrims injured in jostling

TIRUMALA/HYDERABAD: Six pilgrims suffered injuries during jostling for darshan of Lord Venkateswara on the occasion of Vaikuntha Ekadasi festival in the hill shrine on Friday. Lakhs of devotees converged at Tirumala and other important temples across the state to offer special prayers on the auspicious day.
Sources said the pilgrims who stood in the Vaikuntham complex queue lines for longer hours got restive and tried to break the cordon.Pilgrims vied with one another to rush to the main sanctum sanctorum and in the melee, some of them fell over each other. Six of them suffered injuries as tempers flared among the pilgrims. TTD security guards entered the scene and pacified them. The injured pilgrims were taken to Ruia Hospital.
Sources said nearly five lakh pilgrims from various parts of the country came to Tirumala to offer prayers. TTD succeeded in restricting VIPs to 1,400 by completing the break darshan between 4.30 am and 5.30 am, while darshan for the common pilgrims commenced at 5.40 am. Thousands of devotees preferred the Alipiri footpath route to have darshan of the Lord.
With the pilgrim influx mounting, the queue lines extended up to 3-4 km atop the temple town. The entire temple complex was teeming with pilgrims as elderly people, women and children braved the chilly weather to have a glimpse of the Lord.
Meanwhile, lakhs of devotees thronged temples across the state to worship the Lord on the Ekadasi day. They had the holy dip in Godavari, Krishna, Pranahita and other rivers as serpentine queues were witnessed outside the temples.