Tirumala Witnesses Unprecedented Pilgrim Rush as Festive Season and Holidays Converge
Tirupati: The hill town of Tirumala has been overwhelmed by a sea of pilgrims due also to a convergence of weekend holidays, onset of the auspicious Puratasi month and a string of holidays.
With the unprecedented rush of devotees seeking blessings at the Tirumala Venkateswara Swamy Temple, the Vaikuntam Queue Complex (VQC) 1 and 2, along with the Narayanagiri sheds, have reached their maximum capacity on Sunday.
The long queues stretched well beyond the Nandakam rest house and to a distance of 5km into the surrounding areas. For those without tokens, the waiting time for darshan crossed over 30 hours by Sunday evening, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) said.
TTD took steps to alleviate the congestion by cancelling the issuance of Slotted Sarva Darshan (SSD) tokens for Oct 7, 8, 14, and 15. This was to regulate the flow of devotees and check overcrowding.
Executive officer Dharma Reddy and other TTD functionaries in Tirumala were overseeing the arrangements for the devotees and continuously monitoring the queue lines. Senior officials from Tirupati have also been dispatched to the hill town to ensure uninterrupted supply of free food and drinking water.
Approximately 2,500 Srivari seva volunteers have been deployed to cater to the needs of the pilgrims caught in the serpentine queue lines and at other points. TTD issued an appeal to devotees to come prepared for a patient wait in the queue lines in view of the heavy rush.
Challenges persist despite these elaborate arrangements. Inclement weather and long waiting time in the extended queue lines have posed serious difficulties to children and the elderly. Navigating the maze of entry points to the darshan queues has caused confusion. This was exacerbated by inadequate traffic management and an influx of private taxis.
The pilgrims arriving in their own vehicles faced more difficulties. Unscientific traffic restrictions, insufficient signage and guidance have compounded the problems, causing frustration. The surge in the number of private taxis, though convenient for many, has created traffic management issues. The situation was worsened by the absence of sufficient traffic police personnel.
With the huge increase in pilgrim influx, the strain on facilities like accommodation and amenities reached an unprecedented level. The demand for accommodation far outstripped the supply. Desperate for shelter, many devotees were seen resting on the footpaths in front of the temple premises, as also in sheds and other areas.
