TTD Overhauls Token System
Vaikunta Darshan For The First Three Days To Be Allowed Only Through Online Dip: Reports
TIRUPATI: The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) would issue all Vaikunta Dwara Darshan tokens through an online e-dip for the first three days of the ten-day Vaikunta Dwara Darshan phase.
The TTD is moving away from the system of distributing tokens through counters in Tirupati. The change follows the January 8 stampede at a ticket counter, in which six devotees died and several others were injured. Under the new plan, darshan tokens for December 30, 31 and January 1 would be available only through the online draw.
The Devasthanams trust board, which met at Annamaiah Bhavan on Tuesday, finalised the arrangements for the Vaikunta Ekadasi and New Year crowd management. TTD chairman B.R. Naidu said the decisions were taken on directions from the Chief Minister with priority given to ordinary devotees during the festival from Dec 30 to January 8.
Registrations for the e-dip would be open from November 27 to December 1 on the TTD website, mobile app and WhatsApp. Devotees selected in the draw on Dec 2 would receive confirmation messages. “For the first three days, SRIVANI-linked tickets, the `300 special entry darshan tickets, the Arjitha sevas and privilege darshans would be cancelled.
Recommendation letters would not be accepted except from protocol dignitaries who attend the event in person,” chairman Naidu said.
From January 2 to 8, Vaikunta Dwara Darshan would be provided through Vaikuntam Queue Complex-2. Devotees without tokens can have Sarva Darshan in the regular queue. Each day during these seven days, TTD would release 15,000 special entry darshan tickets and 1,000 SRIVANI tickets online under the usual system.
The TTD chairman said that of the 182 hours of darshan planned over the ten days, 164 hours have been allotted for common devotees. For Tirumala residents, 5,000 sarva darshan tokens would be issued per day on January 6, 7 and 8 under the first-in, first-out method.
The board also decided to sound the state government for an impartial probe into the Parakamani case and to file criminal charges against those responsible. Chief minister Chandrababu Naidu would participate in the bhoomi puja for the second prakaram of the Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple in Amaravati on November 27, the chairman said.