TTD To Raise Online Darshan Ticket Quota To 9,000 From July 1

TIRUMALA: In good news for all the ardent devotees of Lord Sri Venkateswara, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) board on Sunday decided to increase the online quota of darshan tickets. The TTD has announced that it would enhance the online quota of daily darshan tickets from the current 6,000 to 9,000 from July 1.

The TTD will start issuing the Rs-300 special darshan tickets online from tomorrow, June 30 (Tuesday). The board has announced that special darshan tickets would be made available at the rate of 9,000 slots per day.

Along with these tickets, the TTD will also issue 3,000 Sarva darshan tickets on a daily basis at its three counters in Tirupati from June 1.

The TTD officials said that the devotees can obtain the darshan tickets one day before their scheduled darshan through the counters at the Srinivasam, Vishnunivanasam, and Bhoodevi Complex in Tirupati.

Officials said that the Koil Alwar Thirumanjanam will be held on July 14 while the Aniwara Asthanam will be held on July 16. The holy rituals of Lord Sri Venkateshwara Swamy will be held from July 30 to August.

The Tirumala temple, which remains closed for darshan of devotees for well over two and a half months due to lockdown, resumed the darshan services for around 9,750 devotees every day from June 11. This was preceded by a three-day trial run conducted with the TTD employees and the local residents of Tirumala.

Initially, the TTD decided to facilitate darshan only to 6,000 devotees per day with plans to gradually increase the numbers. But it has now decided to allow 9,750 devotees for darshan. However, children below 10 years and people older than 65 will not be allowed for the darshan.

The TTD made all arrangements for conducting random COVID-19 tests by collecting samples of 200 to 300 devotees at the GNC tollgate in Tirumala. Thermal screening is also being done for every devotee at Alipiri besides sanitisation of vehicles and luggage.

As part of the COVID-19 guidelines, wearing face masks and the use of sanitisers have been made mandatory for all the devotees flocking to Tirumala. Laboratories were also set up at Alipiri and Tirumala for conducting COVID-19 tests.