TTD Served 4.40 Crore Anna Prasadam Treats to Devotees in Five Months
The average daily distribution during the past three months was close to three lakh servings
TIRUPATI: The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams served more than 4.40 crore treats of food, breakfast and beverages to devotees between January and May this year under its free anna prasadam programme in Tirumala.
Launched on April 6, 1985 with 2,000 servings a day, the Nitya Annaprasadam programme has grown into one of the largest free meal services for pilgrims in the country. Operated through the Sri Venkateswara Annaprasadam Trust, the programme now serves nearly 1.8 lakh to 1.9 lakh devotees on normal days, with the number exceeding three lakh during weekends and peak pilgrim seasons.
According to TTD, the average daily distribution during the past three months was close to three lakh servings. This included around 70,000 servings of milk, tea and coffee, 60,200 breakfast servings, 99,500 lunch servings and 56,700 dinner servings. Nearly 9,600 litres of milk are used every day for beverages and related preparations.
The monthly total distributions crossed one crore servings in January, followed by 71.39 lakh in February, 84.85 lakh in March, 85 lakh in April and more than 92 lakh in May.
The Matrusri Tarigonda Vengamamba Annaprasadam Complex remains the principal dining facility in Tirumala. The four-hall complex accommodates around 4,000 devotees at a time and serves more than 82,000 pilgrims daily.
Annaprasadam is also distributed through the Sri Akshaya Kitchen, food courts, Vaikuntam Queue Complex compartments, Narayanagiri sheds, outside the queue points and pilgrims amenities complexes.
TTD uses about 15,788 kg of rice, 3,110kg of sunflower oil and 2,861kg of red gram dal every day for preparing annaprasadam. Other daily requirements include 2,832kg of suji rava, 2,825kg of wheat rava, 1,729kg of black gram dal, 1,436kg of salt, 1,276kg of jaggery and 497kg of tamarind. The kitchens also consume around 4,375 coconuts, 430kg of sugar, 309kg of dried red chillies and 209kg of coriander seeds each day.
TTD has expanded the programme in recent years. The Vakulamata centralised kitchen, commissioned in 2024, has enabled food distribution at 28 additional locations. A new dining hall at PAC-5 with a seating capacity of 1,500 devotees has become operational, while a satellite automated kitchen with the capacity to prepare food for two lakh devotees a day is under development.
The programme is supported by nearly 1,000 employees, including cooks, supervisors, drivers and administrative staff, while another 1,000 Srivari Sevaks assist in serving devotees daily.
The Sri Venkateswara Annaprasadam Trust, sustained through donations from devotees, has fixed deposits exceeding `2,460 crore, ensuring uninterrupted free meal services throughout the year.
