Tirumala witnesses heavy rush as summer vacation ends

Tirumala witnesses heavy rush as summer vacation ends
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Tirumala witnesses heavy rush as summer vacation ends. With the summer holidays this year coming to an end, Tirumala shrine continued to reel under the impact of heavy rush as the limited facilities available at the temple were stretched beyond their capacities leading to chaotic scenes at several places in Tirumala on Sunday.

Tirumala: With the summer holidays this year coming to an end, Tirumala shrine continued to reel under the impact of heavy rush as the limited facilities available at the temple were stretched beyond their capacities leading to chaotic scenes at several places in Tirumala on Sunday.

Devotees waiting for darshan  at Tirumala on Sunday

While the temple administration announced that over a lakh devotees had a darshan from 3 am Saturday till the early hours of Sunday, several lakhs of devotees continued to pour in to the hill shrine on Sunday as well. Right from buses to accommodation to lockers, darshan and laddu prasadams, everything became scarce as serpentine queues became the order of the day.

Angry scenes were witnessed at several places as the devotees were seen engaged in heated exchanges with the temple staff owing to the unprecedented pilgrims rush. With very little staff posted at the pedestrian luggage centres, pilgrims were forced to wait for long hours to deposit their baggage before embarking on their trek to the Tirumala hills which enraged the devotees.

Impatient devotees broke the window panes at the luggage counters along the pedestrian route. With pilgrims continuing to throng the abode of the Lord, accommodation became scarce again as hundreds of devotees were forced to take shelter on the footpaths and temporary shelters erected by the TTD on Sunday.

Meanwhile, 66,653 devotees had a darshan from 3 am till 6 pm on Sunday. Pilgrims opting for the Sarvadarshan route for the darshan were seen waiting in queues stretching close to a couple of kilometres as all the compartments inside the Vaikuntam Q complex were brimming with devotees. Waiting time for devotees under Sarvadarshan was 14 hours on Sunday.

For devotees trekking to the Tirumala hills along the twin pedestrian routes and opting for 'Divya darshan', the waiting time was taking around 8 hours and devotees were seen waiting in over a kilometer-long queues. Srivari Hundi netted a whopping Rs 3.15 crore in the form of offerings from devotees on Saturday and till Sunday morning.

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