Chennai: Owing to lunar eclipse on Wednesday, the hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala will be closed for nearly 10 hours from 10 am to 8 pm, said Tirumala junior executive officer K.S. Sreenivasa Raju.
A press release from TTD said the pilgrim crowd has increased manifold due to a series of holidays apart from Dasara and the weekend. “Pilgrims from Tamil Nadu are especially flooding Tirumala with the advent of the auspicious Purattasi Sanivaram. As a result, all queue lines are brimming with pilgrims and the serpentine queue lines have extended up to several kilometres in Tirumala,” the release added.
Keeping in view the pilgrim influx, TTD cancelled VIP break visit on Monday and stopped issuance of Divya Darshan tokens (footpath darshan) till the rush subsides.
Privileged darshan for the aged, parents with infants and physically handicapped was provided on Monday for those who are already present in Tirumala from the newly shifted point at Ugranam, the release added.
Temple authorities also urged pilgrims to plan their pilgrimage to Tirumala keeping in view the heavy rush. They maintained that during the weekend, close to 80,000 people visited Tirumala. The Balaji temple at Venkatnarayana Road, T. Nagar, Chennai, will also remain closed during the eclipse, TTD sources there said.
