The waiting time for darshan for devotees without tickets extended beyond 20 hours as the queue lines stretched to over four kilometres outside the lines, adding at Shilathoranam. The Narayangiri gardens, which have several massive halls that can accommodate over 15,000 devotees, were also packed to capacity.
On Saturday, a record number of 95,080 devotees had darshan. A total of 39,668 devotees tonsured their head,s and the Hundi collections were Rs 3.47 crore.
In the meantime, TTD Additional Executive Officer Ch Venkaiah Chowdary emphasised that TTD staff, Srivari Sevaks, are working tirelessly day and night to provide the best services to the visiting devotees. He urged that no one should speak or act in ways that hurt devotees’ sentiments.
Following the peak summer rush, the Additional EO inspected queue lines near Shila Toranam on Saturday and interacted with devotees. The devotees also expressed satisfaction with the arrangements.
He referred to an incident where a devotee (allegedly belonging to YSRCP) protested about food services, but later apologised, admitting he was unwell, and out of frustration, he raised anti-slogans against TTD. But later realised his mistake after seeing the impeccable services of TTD to devotees in serving Annaprasadam, milk on time in waiting lines to devotees with Srivari Sevaks.
The Additional EO warned that unauthorised individuals provoking devotees and recording videos will face legal action. He requested devotees to be cooperative, use the facilities provided, and have a smooth darshan experience with patience, as Tirumala is witnessing a pilgrim surge for the last ten days.
Deputy EO Health Sri Somannarayana, Health Officer Dr. Madhusudan, VGO Sri Surendra, and other officials were present.
