Pilgrims oppose online tickets for Tirumala temple darshan

Tirupati: The TTD proposal to streamline darshan at Tirumala has hit a roadblock. The temple administration, which said it focused its attention on reducing the waiting time in the queue for devotees, introduced Internet and e-darshan quota for Rs 300 a few months ago.

Soon after its introduction, the temple administration began increasing the number of tickets issued under the Internet and e-Darshan quota while the current booking quota under which tickets are issued to devotees on a first come first serve basis was gradually reduced to a small number. Though this has actually served the purpose by reducing the waiting time in the queues, those who reach Tirumala without an advanced booking (internet or e-darshan) and want to have the darshan, through a Rs 300 special entry, are denied an opportunity because the administration streamlined the systems.

Besides this, another decision of the TTD, which is drawing flak from the visiting devotees in the recent times, is the cancellation of 'Divya darshan' during the weekends. The very reason this darshan format was introduced by the TTD a few years ago was to ensure a seperate darshan queue line existed for those devotees who trek up the Tirumala hills along the two pedestrian routes of Alipiri and 'Srivari Mettu' as a mark of reciprocation to their devotion.

But as the pilgrim crowds trekking up the hills shot up after TTD linked a provision for darshan for the trekking devotees, TTD took a decision recently to suspend issuance of 'Divya darshan' tickets to the trekking devotees during the weekends when crowds go up. But with the curbs being imposed by the TTD during weekends, pilgrims are literally left with just two options for the darshan of Lord Venkateswara which are the 'Sarvadarshan' and the Rs 50 darshan systems and as such serpentine queuelines have yet again become the order of the day at Tirumala, which is drawing criticism for the temple administration from the devotees at large.