Tirumala: Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) chairman B R Naidu on Monday said that elaborate arrangements have been made for the Vaikunta Dwara Darshanam, keeping in view experiences from previous years. He informed that Vaikunta Dwara Darshanams at the Lord Venkateswara temple will be held from December 30 to January 8.

Addressing a media conference at Tirumala after inspecting the Pilgrims Amenities Complex 2 along with the board members Santaram and Naresh Kumar, the TTD chairman said that tokens for the first three days would be allotted through an electronic lucky dip system.

For the remaining seven days, devotees would be allowed Vaikunta Dwara Darshanam through Sarva Darshan, even without tokens, to ensure wider access for the general public.

He said special emphasis was being laid on strengthening basic infrastructure to avoid any inconvenience to pilgrims. Arrangements and facilities at high-density pilgrim locations would be under continuous monitoring to manage crowd movement effectively.

With the support of donor Mantena Ramalinga Raju, PACs (Pilgrim Amenities Complexes) would be upgraded with state-of-the-art facilities, he said, adding that the donor had recently contributed Rs 9 crore towards these initiatives.

He said devotees expressed immense satisfaction at the available facilities in PAC2.

The TTD chairman also said that the temple body was planning to cultivate divine trees on 100 acre on its own for use in temple flagstaffs (dwajasthambhams). The TTD has identified the Palamaneru Goshala premises as a suitable location for nurturing these trees.

Naidu further said that a TTD Board meeting would be held on Tuesday, during which around 50 agenda items would be discussed. A decision on the divine trees project would be taken and announced after deliberations at the board meeting.