Record-breaking Devotee Turnout at Tirupati as TTD’s Efforts Yield Successful Results
On Sunday, 92,238 pilgrims were granted a glimpse of Lord Venkateswara, marking the highest number of devotees in a single day over the past four years. The offerings made by the devotees to the hundi on the same day reached a substantial amount of Rs 4.2 crore
The initiatives taken by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) to facilitate a larger number of devotees having a darshan of the presiding deity at the hill shrine within a shorter span of time are yielding fruitful results.
On Sunday, 92,238 pilgrims were granted a glimpse of Lord Venkateswara, marking the highest number of devotees in a single day over the past four years. The offerings made by the devotees to the hundi on the same day reached a substantial amount of Rs 4.2 crore.
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To prioritize the experience of ordinary devotees, TTD’s executive officer, Dharma Reddy, made modifications to the queue line and introduced a single-line system from Vendi Vakili (silver entrance) of the main temple on an experimental basis.
This change resulted in a significant increase in the number of devotees who had the opportunity to have a darshan of the presiding deity on Sunday. Around 70,000 devotees availed Sarva Darshan (free darshan) queue line.
In accordance with the daily sevas and rituals performed by the TTD for the presiding deity, devotees now have a 23-hour window to have darshan of Lord Venkateswara.
With an average duration of 0.9 seconds per devotee, an offering of Rs 455 was made to the hundi on Sunday. Additionally, on the same day, approximately 40,400 pilgrims underwent head tonsuring.
“We had darshan of Lord Venkateswara through SSD tokens. We entered the queue line according to the given timeslot and waited in the queue complex for three hours. In the meantime, the TTD staff provided us with food and milk. We were able to have a darshan of the presiding deity within four hours. The experience left us feeling deeply content," said Nitish, a devotee from Chennai.
“It took us many hours to have a darshan. We waited in the queue line for almost 10 hours. Although the facilities in the queue line were good, the waiting time was substantial. It would be wonderful if ordinary devotees could have a darshan experience similar to that of VVIPs," said Girisha, a devotee from Nellore.
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