TTD stops free darshan tokens from Sunday

Tirumala: In a big disappointment to the pilgrims, the Tirumala-Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) have decided to stop Sarva Darshan in Tirumala temple from April 12.

Accordingly, the issuing of offline Sarva Darshan will be stopped from April 11 in view of the spike in Covid cases across the country. In an official release on Wednesday, TTD said Covid cases were on the rise again in Tirupati city. Since thousands of devotees arriving from across the country have to wait at Bhudevi complex and Vishnu Nivasam for time slot tokens, the prospects of Covid cases is likely to increase. With the spurt in Covid cases from the last few days, the Shirdi temple in Maharashtra has already suspended Darshan. Similarly, TTD has taken this decision of dispensing with SSD tokens in Tirupati from Monday onwards. TTD said the above decision was taken keeping in view of the health safety of devotees and any resumption of tokens in future will be formally announced. However, darshan for Rs 300 special entry tickets for which tokens were already issued and Arjitha seva ticket holders who booked the tickets in advance would continue in Tirumala temple.