TIRUMALA, MARCH 25, 2024: The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams witnessed heavy pilgrims rush at Lord Sri Venkateshwara Swamy temple in Tirumala on Monday, following the week-end holidays.
The darshan queue lines stretched over three kilometers and the waiting time for the darshan for those without tokens (Saravadarshan) crossed 24 hours. Both the queue complexes at the shrine were full to their capacity. The devotees had arrived in large numbers to participate in Tumubur Theertham also monthly Garuda vahana seva.
As part of crowd management measures, senior officials from Tirupati were deputed at the temple town to ensure an uninterrupted supply of free food packets and drinking water.
Several hundreds of Srivari seva volunteers were deployed to cater to the needs of the pilgrims waiting in the darshan lines. They also served at the laddu counters, luggage counters, reception, kalyanakatta and other points where the congregation of pilgrims was large.
Meanwhile, in Tirupati, all the parking lots were full. Private bus operators, left with no other option, parked their vehicles on either side of the road from Alipiri to SV Vedic University.
On Saturday, a total of 72,987 devotees had darshan of the deity. The temple earned hundi collection of Rs 2.79 crore and waiting compartments outside line at ATGH.
