Issuing of Vaikunta Dwara Darshan tokens concludes

Tirupati: The issuing of the Time Slotted Sarva Darshan (SSD) tokens for Vaikunta Dwara Darshan ended on Sunday with the completion of the quota up to January 11, the last day of the Vaikunta Dwara darshan.

The TTD issued 45,000 SSD tokens daily and also 20,000 SED (Rs 300 special entry darshan) daily taking the total to 65,000 daily for the 10-day Vaikunta Dwara Darshan at the famed Tirumala temple from January 2 to 11. The TTD in addition to the 4.5 lakh SSD tokens released 15,000 SSD tokens on January 2 for Vaikunta Dwara darshan on the same day.

This apart, 2,000 Srivani darshan tickets daily were also released by the TTD for the 10-day Vaikunta Dwara Darshan (total 20,000) while the TTD made elaborate arrangements for darshan to a maximum of 80,000 devotees including SSD, SED, Vani darshan, protocol VIPs and other categories. However, a glance at the daily report of the pilgrims who had Vaikunta Dwara Darshan in the last six days i.e from January 2 (Vaikunta Ekadasi day) reveals that the pilgrim rush for Vaikunta Dwara Darshan is much less than the temple management expected.

On the first day of Vaikunta Dwara Darshan on January 2, Vaikunta Ekadasi day, 69,414 pilgrims had darshan which increased to 71,924 on January 3, only to come down further to 45,887.

But thanks to the weekend on Saturday the number of devotees who had darshan increased to 62,856. On an average daily about 60,000 pilgrims had Vaikunta Dwara Darshan in the first six days of the 10-day Vaikunta Dwara Darshan at Tirumala temple. This is about 20 to 25 per cent less than what the TTD anticipated while the daily number of devotees who had darshan indicates that the absentee number is sizable. Many availed two darshan tickets i.e. SED and also SSD but availed one adding more to the absentee's number.

In the first days i.e. Vaikunta Ekadasi and Dwadasi pilgrims faced a lot of difficulties as they were forced to wait five to 7 hours for Vaikunta Dwara Darshan. Many devotees took to social media to slam the TTD management for the inconvenience they faced and narrated their suffering in the compartment where they were confined for hours with no staff to respond as they locked the compartment and went away.

Some who availed the SSD tokens through the additional 15,000 tokens released at 2 pm on Vaikunta Ekadasi day said that they reported at 8 pm at queue complex and had darshan at 4 in the morning and were forced to spend the night in the compartment, unprepared facing lot of inconvenience with children and women.

Meanwhile, the TTD in a release said that the issuing of SSD tokens for free darshan will commence from January 12. In the release, the TTD also officially confirmed that the issuing of Vaikunta Dwara Darshan SSD tokens from January 2-11 has come to an end on Sunday with the completion of the quota.

The SSD tokens will be issued from January 12 onwards (for the same day's darshan) at Srinivasam, Vishnu Nivasam and Bhudevi Complex at Tirupati only as was earlier. The devotees are requested to make note of this.