Tirupati: Sarva Darshan tokens to be issued online

Tirupati: Plans are afoot for the issuance of Sarva darshan (free darshan) tokens online for the sake of common pilgrims, said TTD chairman YV Subba Reddy.

Speaking to the media after the launch of TTD Agarbatti sale here on Monday, he said the IT department is already engaged in providing the required arrangements on the TTD website for the issuance of Sarva Darshan tokens online for darshan.

This was to avoid the common pilgrims coming all the way to avail the SSD (Time Slotted Sarva Darshan) tokens being issued daily across the counters in Tirupati, he said adding that in a week or two the online booking of Sarva Darshan would commence.

On the demand from devotees to increase and also extend Sarva Darshan token facility to all, the TTD chairman assured that the Sarva Darshan token facility would soon be extended to all (now it is confined to only people of Chittoor district) with the online booking of SSD tokens and added that the number of SSD tokens would be not be less than the number of the payment based Rs 300 special entry tickets.

Answering a question, he made it clear that the TTD is keen on providing facilities to common pilgrims and is working on a war-footing basis to finalise the online booking of Sarva Darshan which he said would be ready within a week.

The TTD is facing severe criticism for limiting SSD tokens and also confining it to only one district and devotees on social media slamming the TTD for its commercial motive by limiting Sarva Darshan while issuing more number of payment based tickets for darshan.

Against the backdrop, the chairman declaring issuing of SSD tokens online assumes significance and also became a path-breaking move on the part of TTD, the behemoth of Hindu religious institutions in favour of common pilgrims.