Tirumala hundi nets Rs 4.39 cr on Vaikunta Ekadasi Day

Tirumala: On the day of Vaikunta Ekadasi, a total of 42,825 pilgrims had Vaikunta Dwara Darshnam in Tirumala temple on Friday, December 25. The hundi offering in the shrine also was Rs 4.39 crore, the highest ever since the TTD resumed darshan on June 8, after lockdown relaxations.

Meanwhile, many pilgrims who availed SRIVANI Trust break darshan tickets complained that they had only maha laghu darshan along with Rs 300 special entry and Offline SSD token holders while they were entitled to break darshan for which they had paid Rs 10,000 as donation plus purchased tickets at Rs 1,000 each. Sources said some of the aggrieved pilgrims were shocked over the laghu darshan questioned a TTD staff present in the sanctum leading to a verbal clash between the pilgrims and the staff resulting in the enraged devotees roughed a staff.

Senior officials intervened and convinced the devotees after explaining the constraints the TTD is facing in coping with the rush for Vaikunta Dwara Darshanam.

A senior cop said the incident was due to lack of awareness on the part of the pilgrims who were not aware of providing Maha laghu darshan to SRIVANI Trust donors instead of break darshan for the 10-day Vaikunta Dwara Darshanam so as to provide the rare Darshan to more number of devotees. He said TTD clearly stated in the ticket (SRIVANI Trust) that only maha laghu darshan for the purchaser of the ticket, he explained.

Meanwhile, the lamentation of a group of five pilgrims alleging raw deal meted out by the TTD management for SRIVANI Trust ticket holders went viral in the social media much to the embarrassment of TTD.