Tirumala: Devotees have to wait two days for darshan

Tirumala: The devotees availing the 'Time Slotted Sarva Darshan' tokens issued in Tirupati, for darshan have to wait about two days to have their turn of darshan in Tirumala temple.

With the influx of pilgrims continuing, the waiting time expanded to reach almost two days now. According to sources, the SSD tokens which were issued on Sunday

slotted darshan on Tuesday (March 29). In other words, the pilgrims who avail the free darshan tokens (SSD) have to wait two days to have their turn of darshan.

Against this backdrop, TTD management on Sunday officially appealed to the devotees to make a note of expanded waiting time for darshan before planning the pilgrimage to Tirumala. The waiting time for darshan, which remained 20-30 hours, for the past

three-four days gradually increased from Saturday following heavy rush of pilgrims arriving for darshan, resulting in the waiting time rising to almost 48 hours (for tokens issued on Sunday). If the rush continues, the waiting time is bound to increase further,

as the darshan timing on Tuesday curtailed for observing the Koil Alwar Tirumanjanam, a preparatory cleaning exercise to be conducted in the famed Sri Venkateswara temple, ahead of Ugadi festival, said a temple official. The darshan in the shrine would resume at 12 pm after completion of the Koil Alwar Tirumanjam, a temple official said. Despite the Thirumananam ceremony, TTD for the sake of common devotees issued 30,000 SSD tokens for free darshan by cancelling the VIP break darshan on Tuesday, a temple official explained. To facilitate the common pilgrims with more darshan time, TTD has even cancelled VIP break darshan on March 29 and already stated that no recommendation letters will be entertained on Monday, March 28 (for

darshan on March 29). Meanwhile on Saturday 69,897 devotees had darshan while the cash offerings in hundi was Rs 3.92 crore, according to TTD sources.