Heavy Rush at Tirumala as Vaikunta Dwara Opens to All

TIRUPATI: With Vaikunta Dwara Darshan being opened to all devotees, Tirumala witnessed a sharp surge in pilgrim inflow on Friday, leading to heavy crowding across the hill shrine and long waiting hours.

As the rush intensified, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) permitted Sarva Darshan devotees without tokens to enter the queue lines from Thursday night itself, much ahead of the scheduled time. Officials said the decision was taken after the inflow of devotees holding pre-issued slotted Sarva Darshan tokens gradually eased.

Vaikunta Dwara Darshans commenced on December 30 and continued smoothly for the first three days, with priority given to token holders. Entry was regulated through scanning points at Silathoranam, Krishnateja and ATGH routes. With the flow of token-holding pilgrims tapering off by Thursday, darshan was opened to devotees without tokens. Such pilgrims were regulated from the Octopus building point and routed through queue lines along the outer ring road before being shifted to compartments at Vaikuntam Queue Complex-2.

According to TTD officials, more than 33,000 vehicles reached Tirumala from Tirupati between December 30 and January 1. A total of 67,053 devotees had darshan on December 30, followed by 70,256 on December 31 and 65,225 on January 1. Hundi collections stood at `2.25 crore on December 30, peaked at `4.79 crore on December 31, and amounted to `3.63 crore on January 1.

By 5 pm on Friday, about 41,347 devotees had darshan, while over 30,000 pilgrims were waiting in queue lines extending up to the Batagangamma temple. Officials estimated the waiting time at around 20 to 24 hours.

TTD additional executive officer Ch. Venkaiah Chowdary said that from Friday, all darshans up to January 8 had been fully earmarked for Sarva Darshan. He inspected the queue lines and Vaikuntam Queue Complex along with officials from various departments.

He said all Arjita Sevas, VIP break darshans and special darshans had been cancelled to give priority to common devotees. He added that all departments were providing uninterrupted services, including Annaprasadam, drinking water and milk, through Srivari Sevaks, with darshan-related instructions being announced regularly through the public address system.