TIRUMALA: The Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam (TTD) Trust board will take a final call on about the date of reopening the Temple for pilgrims, while limiting the number of devotees to adhere to social distancing norms, in a meeting to be held on May 28.

TTD will hold a meeting with governing board members through a video conference and make a decision about how to conduct Srivari darshan for the devotees and the way forward after the temple reopens for the public.

The TTD board has decided to first experiment with the new darshan procedure with its TTD employees. As per TTD officials, they plan to allow 500 persons per hour on a pilot basis.

After this, officials have been working on the possibilities to allow locals from Tirumala and Tirupati for 10 to 15 days to have darshan of the Lords.

Apart from the daily rituals for the Lord, devotees visit the temple for 14 hours, as per the regular schedule. Based on this the TTD officials plan to limit the number of visitors to 7,000 on a daily basis after the lockdown.

After the completion of this trial run, the board will take into cognizance the issues and observations. After this, it will then throw open the temple for the local's visit.

Once the TTD board gives the go-ahead for the temple to be open, the tickets will be issued online for the devotees. Officials have also drawn up slot procedures for this purpose. Only devotees would be allowed at the Alipiri checkpoints and Tirumala walkway entry points after thorough checking. The mandatory thermal scanning and sanitization of each devotee will be conducted before they are allowed to proceed and arrangements for the same will put in place.

Devotees will be required to wear face masks and gloves. Proposals for deputation of employees fewer than 50 years of age at the Vaikuntham queue complex and reception centers have been arranged.

TTD will layout the precautionary measures to be taken by the businessmen and traders in the temple precincts.

TTD Chairman YV Subba Reddy, EO Anil Kumar Singhal, and Additional EO Dharma Reddy have already conducted a review meeting over the guidelines for the Tirumala darshan.

The decision of when the temple will be reopened will be formally announced after the TTD Governing Council meeting to be held on the 28th of this month.

Also Read: Lockdown| TTD For Trial Run Of Darshan With Staff and Locals From Tirupati