At every nook and corner of Tirumala, devotees falling prey to those who take advantage of their power.
Tirupati: The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, one of the richest temples in India, with an annual budget of Rs 3,000 crore, may draw pilgrims seeking expiation in droves, but it has, over the years, itself become a hotbed of commercial wrangling and corruption. There are several aspects to the underhand nature of deals struck, corruption here being institutionalised.
Right from the time a pilgrim arrives at Tirupati to catch a bus bound for the Tirumala hills for darshan to having the ritual tonsure, obtaining accommodation and darshan and finally, buying the laddu prasadam, he has to grease the palms of employees and agents.
Introduction of online sale of darshan tickets has curbed the middleman menace, but it persists. Corruption had its own norms in earlier times – it was a known fact that darshan tickets regularly sold for double the price. But now, the devotee may end up paying 10 times the ticket price.
“The VIP break darshan ticket price is priced at Rs 500, but some touts are selling them for Rs 5,000,” according to G. Ramanappa, a local businessman.
“Though an AC room costs Rs 1,500, I had to pay Rs 5,000,” K. Ramprasad, a pilgrim from Vijayawada, said. He said that he had to depend on agents because the other option was to run from pillar to post to get recommendation letters for darshan and accommodation via the good offices of ministers or MLAs.
This was institutionalised corruption as an artificial demand was being created by the staff in collusion with brokers, he said.
At Kalyanakatta, where pilgrims offer their hair in fulfilment of their vows, the tonsuring service is free or one can take tokens of Rs 10. But even without the direct involvement of officials or touts, every barber demands Rs 50-100 from each pilgrim.
The age-old tradition of quota for Arjitha Seva tickets and AC rooms to board members continues, many of them being political appointees. They have the privilege of getting about 25 VIP break darshan tickets every day, a few weekly seva tickets, like Suprabhatam, Archana, Thomala and Abhishekam on the days when these sevas are performed.
Then there are several government departments, such as Excise, Endowments, Panchayat Raj and others, which also have their own quota of darshan tickets. This apart, ministers, MLAs and MLCs also make frequent visits, some of them having their own personal assistants in Tirumala who take care of them and their guests.
“There are allegations that some board members have tie-ups with star hotels and travel agents in Tirupati,” said a retired TTD official. , where the tickets were being sold to them for a higher price which, in turn, were being sold to devotees at an even higher price,” said a retired TTD official on condition of anonymity.
“Some board members have a luxurious lifestyle in the name of service to god, but they would not have visited or checked the cottages where the common man finds lodgings, such as Saptagiri, SMC, SNC or HVC guest houses. They should look to the needs of devotees who take shelter under the trees and free choultries in Tirumala instead of wasting TTD’s money,” he opined.
