Vaikunta Ekadasi Eve Draws to Tirumala VVIPs and Celebrities
Ministers, judges, and celebrities join thousands of devotees for Vaikunta Dwara darshan.
Tirupati: The hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala witnessed an unusually heavy influx of VVIPs and dignitaries on Tuesday night, coinciding with the auspicious eve of Vaikunta Ekadasi. Apart from thousands of ordinary devotees, a large number of judges, elected representatives, senior officials, film personalities and sportspersons arrived at the temple to pass through the Vaikunta Dwara and have the darshan.
According to temple sources, several ministers, MLAs and MPs from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana visited the shrine with their family members and had the Vaikunta Dwara Darshan, which devotees believe offers spiritual liberation. The northern entrance of the temple was ceremonially opened at 12.05 a.m. amid traditional rituals and Vedic chants, marking the formal beginning of the 10-day Vaikunta Dwara Darshan.
Soon after the Vaikunta Dwara opened, Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, along with his family, had darshan, followed by Union Minister Ram Mohan Naidu. Prominent devotees who had the darshan included AP assembly speaker Ayyanna Patrudu, deputy speaker Raghurama Krishnam Raju, and ministers Nimmala Ramanaidu, K. Atchannaidu, Payyavula Keshav, Kondapalli Srinivas, Anagani Satya Prasad, Kollu Ravindra and S. Savita.
Others present from Telangana included assembly speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar, Mahabubnagar MP D.K. Aruna, Goshamahal MLA T. Raja Singh and Medchal MLA Ch. Malla Reddy. Former ministers Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy, R.K. Roja and V. Srinivas, along with MP P.V. Mithun Reddy, passed through the Vaikunta Dwaram.
Indian cricketers Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav offered prayers, while film personalities including K. Surekha, Nandamuri Vasundhara Devi, actors Rajendra Prasad, Nara Rohit, Shivaji, Sreeleela and Hema, and producers D.V.V. Danayya and Bandla Ganesh had the darshan.
The heavy VIP turnout led to congestion near Rambagicha guest houses and the Employees’ Canteen. Parking areas filled up quickly and vehicles lined the access road. Despite the pressure on infrastructure, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams maintained that they have already put in place systems to ensure smooth darshan during the 10-day period.
TTD chairman B.R. Naidu said the Vaikunta Dwara Darshan had been advanced slightly to regulate crowd movement and avoid inconvenience.
Executive officer Anil Kumar Singhal disclosed that darshan for prominent persons began around 1:20 a.m., while devotees with electronic dip-enabled tokens got entry after 5:30 a.m. Singhal advised devotees without tokens to come only after January 2. He asked token-holders to strictly follow the allotted time slots during the first three days.
