Unlearned Lessons: Stampede at TTD Darshan Token Centres Raises Alarm

Tirupati: Incidents of overcrowding and chaos at token distribution centres in 2022 and 2023 did not equip the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams to avert future fatalities, like the deadly stampede during this year’s Vaikunta Ekadasi preparations.

On Wednesday night, a surge of devotees at a token distribution centre in Tirupati led to the loss of six lives and left dozens injured, exposing the lapses and administrative oversight in crowd management.

Similar overcrowding incidents at some token distribution centres in Tirupati had already raised alarms. In 2022, chaotic scenes at Bhudevi Complex and Govindaraja Swamy Choultries resulted in injuries to several devotees. Large crowds surged forward in an attempt to get darshan tokens. Yet, a complacent administration failed to introduce preventive measures or effect improvements in the existing system.

Vaikunta Ekadasi, celebrated annually at the hill temple in Tirumala, traditionally spanned two days—Ekadasi and Dwadasi. Until 2021, devotees accessed darshan through online ₹300 tickets or had it directly via Sarva (free) darshan lines at the Vaikunta queue complex in Tirumala, without tokens.

However, in 2022, under the YSR Congress government, the TTD trust board introduced a major change, extending Vaikunta Dwara darshan to 10 days. The idea was to accommodate more devotees.

To manage the increased number of pilgrims, TTD introduced time-slotted Sarva Darshan (SSD) tokens at multiple centres across Tirupati. This change, intended to provide structured access to Vaikunta Dwara darshan, significantly increased the number of pilgrims during the festival.

However, this new system resulted in a surge in visitors, resulting in overcrowding at the centres and creating a bottleneck that proved challenging to manage. Long queues, overcrowding and occasional pushing and jostling situations became recurring issues, with minor incidents already reported in 2022 and 2023.

Instead of learning from these flaws and taking corrective steps, TTD continued with the 10-day darshan schedule in 2025, perhaps fearing backlash from devotees if the schedule was scaled back.

On Wednesday night, the stampede occurred at a token distribution centre after a woman fell ill. The police opened the gates to allow her to be attended to, but the sudden opening of the gates triggered a rush of devotees, resulting in the deadly stampede.

Despite the presence of security personnel and various measures put in place by TTD, the sheer volume of devotees and insufficient crowd control protocols led to disaster, the temple authority claims.

TTD chairman BR Naidu expressed his sorrow over the tragedy. Speaking to the media, Naidu acknowledged administrative lapses but put the blame squarely on the officials. “While we took several measures, it seems there were some shortcomings in administration. The responsibility lies with the officials. I had warned them at a meeting on Tuesday about potential scuffles and asked them not to take the situation lightly, he claimed.

He said that despite assurances from officials about adequate arrangements, the situation spiraled out of control.

The stampede has raised serious concern about the current token issuance system and its ability to effectively manage large crowds. Devotees and experts are now calling for a complete review of the system, urging TTD to increase the number of token distribution centres, deploy more personnel for crowd control, and improve the infrastructure at high-traffic locations.

Additionally, the incident highlighted the need for more robust crowd management techniques, including the use of advanced technology to monitor and regulate the flow of devotees.