Tirumala Witnessing Heavy Rush With Summer Holidays Nearing Their End
TTD officials have attributed the successful management of the large crowds to the AI-backed Integrated Command and Control Centre, which monitors pilgrim movement round the clock: Reports
TIRUPATI: Tirumala continued to witness heavy pilgrim rush on Sunday, with thousands of devotees arriving for darshan of Lord Venkateswara before the end of the summer holiday season.
According to Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), devotees opting for Sarva Darshan without tokens are required to wait nearly 18–20 hours for the Lord’s darshan. As a result, all compartments in the Vaikuntam Queue Complexes remained filled with pilgrims. The Sarva Darshan queue lines extended up to Silathoranam.
Heavy inflow of pilgrims led to traffic congestion at several points. Alipiri Toll Plaza witnessed long queues of vehicles on Sunday morning stretching up to Garuda Circle to await their turn of screening. Though the situation eased later in the day, vehicular movement remained slow on the ghat roads and major roads in Tirumala.
Demand for accommodation remained high. With rooms fully occupied at many locations, several pilgrims could be seen resting at Pilgrims Amenities Complexes and temporary shelters arranged by TTD. Elderly devotees and families with young children faced difficulties during the long wait for darshan. TTD continued to provide waiting devotees Annaprasadam, milk, and drinking water.
On Saturday, 90,107 devotees had darshan of the deity and the Srivari Hundi received offerings worth ₹4.23 crore during the day. The continued rush comes after Tirumala recorded its highest-ever monthly footfall in May. A total of 25,46,168 devotees visited the temple during the month, an increase of 2,85,308 compared to May 2025. The highest single-day footfall had been recorded on May 24, when 98,058 devotees had darshan. The shrine crossed the 90,000-devotees mark on four occasions during the month.
TTD served Annaprasadam to more than 1.12 crore devotees in May, about 15.71 lakh more than in the corresponding period last year. Hundi collections touched ₹120 crore, while laddu sales crossed ₹1.21 crore. To meet the growing demand, the temple's Potu department prepared an average of 4.08 lakh laddus every day. TTD also used AI-based colour-sorting machines in the laddu production process to maintain quality standards.
TTD officials have attributed the successful management of the large crowds to the AI-backed Integrated Command and Control Centre, which monitors pilgrim movement round the clock. The system helps officials assess crowd density, regulate the flow of devotees, and manage different categories of darshan ticket holders based on real-time inputs.
