Over 60,000 pilgrims have darshan on Vaikunta Ekadasi

Tirumala: The number of pilgrims who had darshan of Lord Venkateswara and also the Vaikunta Dwara Darshan on the occasion of Vaikunta Ekadasi on Friday at Tirumala Temple dipped this year.

According to temple sources, 60,094 pilgrims had Vaikunta Dwara Darshan on the first day of the 10-day Vaikunta Dwara darshan in Tirumala which is much less than last year.

Source said 4,500 VIPs had darshan on Vaikunta Ekadasi. Source said the number of pilgrims who had darshan is the lowest in the recent years and reasons were many.

This include TTD restricting the issuing of tokens on the first day keeping in view the number of VIPs and also the Vaikunta Ekadasi occurred on Friday on which weekly Abhishekam will be performed to Lord Venkateswara which will take more than one hour. The tragic incident of stampede which claimed six lives and caused injuries to 37 others also made the devotees to defer their visit to the temple as heavy rush of devotees is expected on the first day of the 10-day Vaikunta Dwara Darshan.

The Hundi income on Vaikunta Ekadasi day was Rs 2.45 crore which was also very low compared to average Hundi income which is not less than 3.5 cr on the auspicious day during the previous years.

Interestingly, the local temples at Tiruchanur and Srinivasa Mangapuram witnessed more rush of devotees on Vaikunta Ekadasi day including Thummalagunta Kalyana Venkateswara Swamy where 70,000 people had darshan. The pilgrim influx has gone up at these temples as many locals prefer to visit local temples instead of Tirumala which takes many hours for darshan and also waiting for long at the queue.