TTD Cancels Thursday's SSD Tokens Over Pilgrim Rush
The cancellation for the fourth consecutive week has inconvenienced devotees from distant places, while the 10,000-token quota for Wednesday darshan was exhausted within an hour.
Tirupati: The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) has cancelled the issuance of SSD tokens at three centres in Tirupati amid a rising pilgrim rush. Tokens for Friday darshan will be issued as usual from Thursday afternoon.
The cancellation of token issuance for the fourth consecutive week has caused inconvenience to devotees who travelled from distant places. Devotees criticised the TTD for not issuing Sarva Darshan tokens, saying that pilgrims who travel long distances after spending considerable time and money were being put to unnecessary hardship.
For Wednesday's darshan, the TTD issued 10,000 time-slotted SSD tokens from 5 am on Tuesday. Another 2,000 tokens were issued to devotees trekking to Tirumala via the Srivari Mettu footpath.
The quota was exhausted within an hour, leaving devotees who were already waiting in the queue, as well as those who arrived later, facing inconvenience at the token distribution centres.