Holidays increase rush at Balaji temple

Tirupati: Tirumala has been witnessing heavy pilgrim rushes owning to a series of holidays and the ongoing Brahmotsavams for the past three days.

The rush peaked on Sunday with serpentine queues extending miles from the main temple complex. For Sarva Darshan pilgrims, it has been taking nearly 14 hours to get darshan while for footpath pilgrims it’s about 8-10 hours. Over 93,000 pilgrims had darshan on Saturday.

The rush is expected to continue for another three to four days, which are holidays because of Dasara. There is heavy demand for cottages in Tirumala and the TTD management has cancelled advance booking of room allotments due to the Brahmotsavams.

According to TTD sources, 31 compartments of free darshan has been full with pilgrims who are having to wait for more than 10 hours, while all the compartments for footpath pilgrims have been full, resulting in the queues stretching up to the Narayanagiri Garden outside the queue complex.

TTD has cancelled VIP break darshans except for protocol darshans due to the rush. Officials are making arrangements for the speedy movement of queues and are supplying food to the pilgrims in the queues and also in the queue complex.