TIRUPATI: Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) will set up a current booking counter at Tirupati International airport soon to issue VIP break darshan tickets to devotees who have donated to SRIVANI (Sri Venkateswara Alaya Nirmanam) Trust.
Upon their arrival at Tirupati, the devotees, who are willing to donate money to SRIVANI Trust, can instantly avail protocol break darshan tickets at this counter.
This move comes as a major relief to devotees who can donate and avail confirmed break darshan tickets without having to approach influential persons for recommendation letters or seek the help of middlemen or approach black-market for the darshan at the Tirumala temple.
The SRIVANI trust-donation linked VIP break darshan system was launched in October 2019 to end the black marketing of VIP break darshan and facilitate a hassle-free darshan booking experience for the donor devotees.
Under this scheme, devotees can get one VIP break darshan by extending a donation of Rs.10,000. At present, TTD has been facilitating both online and offline booking of SRIVANI trust-linked break darshan tickets.
The AP Tourism Department has recently approached the TTD board and sought to establish a dedicated current booking counter at Tirupati airport as it will help the devotees flying to Tirupati from across parts of the country to avail break darshan tickets upon their arrival at the airport itself.
“Following a series of meetings with the tourism department and airport authorities, the temple administration has agreed to set up the current booking counter and issued orders to that effect on December 4 last year. Following this, the engineering wing has been involved in providing necessary infra for establishing the counter at the airport and the IT wing was also involved in providing technical support”, a TTD senior official said.
Thanking the TTD management for deciding to set up a current booking counter at the airport, Tirupati MP Dr M. Gurumurthy said this initiative will not only help in boosting the temple tourism in the city but also increase the passenger footfall at the Tirupati airport.
“Passenger footfall is already on the rise at the temple city’s airport. With more flights expected to connect Tirupati to other parts in the country under the UDAN scheme soon, the TTD’s current booking facility at the airport will help in further increasing the passenger footfall,” he added.
