Tirumala Provides Vaikunta Dwara Darshan to 7.83 Lakh Devotees in 10 Days

Addressing media in Tirumala, TTD chairman B.R. Naidu said the 10-day Vaikunta Dwara Darshan period, from December 30 to January 8, attracted nearly one lakh additional devotees compared to the previous year. Out of the total 182 hours of darshan time available during the period, 164 hours had been allotted to general devotees.

The highest footfalls had been on January 3, when around 89,000 devotees had darshan, while about 83,000 devotees visited the temple on January 2, despite it being a working day. Hundi collections during the 10 days stood at ₹41.14 crore. A total of 44 lakh laddus had been sold during the period, about 10 lakh more than the previous year.

Nearly 33 lakh devotees received Annadanam. Snacks and hot badam milk had been provided continuously to devotees standing in queue lines during the peak hours.

Around 2.06 lakh devotees tonsured their heads at Kalyanakatta during the 10 days. About 4,000 Srivari Sevaks, including 1,900 in annadanam services, assisted pilgrims. The garden department’s floral decorations at the temple and improved facilities at pilgrims’ reception complexes have received positive feedback, the TTD chairman stated.

He thanked the police, district administration, APSRTC, Srivari Sevaks and other departments for their coordination.

TTD executive officer (EO) Anil Kumar Singhal said Vaikunta Ekadasi Darshan had also been organised at TTD-managed temples across the country, where higher footfalls compared to previous years have been reported. Additional EO Ch. Venkayya Chowdary said better coordination among departments helped utilise darshan time efficiently, allowing more devotees to have darshan during the 10-day period.

Those present included TTD board members M. Shantaram, Naresh Kumar, district collector Dr. S. Venkateswar, SP L. Subbarayudu and CVSO K.V. Murali Krishna.