Pilgrim rush swells at Tirumala

Tirumala: Tirumala, the abode of Lord Venkateswara, is witnessing heavy influx of pilgrims due to consecutive holidays resulting in the devotees who have no darshan tokens to wait for more than two days for darshan.

The pilgrim rush which started to swell from Thursday night itself due to the declared holiday on Friday (Good Friday), gathered momentum and is expected to rise further because of two consecutive holidays on (second) Saturday and Sunday.

It is needless to say that the TTD authorities particularly at the shrine, in the massive queue complex and queue lines were facing tough time in tackling the pouring pilgrim rush while the waiting pilgrim queue line went beyond Silathoranam junction on the outer ring road, nearly 4-km long, after the massive queue complex and the sheds in the Narayanagiri gardens were full.

Pilgrims were seen jostling in the queue line near the queue complex and heavy rush was seen everywhere including at Akilandam where pilgrims observe the ritual of breaking coconuts, for boarding free buses, at the laddu counters and at all the tonsure centres at Tirumala.

With all rooms and cottages occupied, the pilgrims with their families were seen waiting wherever they could find some space on the hills.

Temple sources said the tight situation would continue for three more days and is likely to ease only on Monday evening or Tuesday morning. The Srivari Sevak volunteers were rendering service round-the-clock providing food, water and also regulating the pilgrims.

Meanwhile, the TTD in a statement appealed to the devotees to wait with patience in the serpentine queue lines till their turn of darshan.

Owing to a series of holidays coupled with weekend rush, the summer crowd is being witnessed a week in advance at Tirumala, the TTD said, seeking the devotees to make note of this and plan their pilgrimage accordingly.

All the compartments in Vaikuntam-1 and 2 are filled to their capacities with pilgrim devotees, and heavy footfall has been the order of the day in Alipiri footpath route also, the release said adding that due to heavy rush at Tirumala, it is taking nearly 48 hours i.e. two days for darshan for the tokenless devotees.