About 1 lakh pilgrims visit Tirumala on New Year Day

Tirumala: Large number of devotees turned up at Tirumala to have a darshan of Lord Venkateswara and begin the first day of the New Year on an auspicious note on Sunday.

The pilgrims who thronged the abode of Lord Venkateswara for New Year darshan expressed their satisfaction over the elaborate arrangements made by the TTD which ensured a hassle-free darshan to the devotees.

The TTD administration was able to commence the darshan for common pilgrims at 2:40 am following the efforts of EO Dr D Sambasiva Rao, which helped to cope with the New Year rush which was evident with about 80,000 people having darshan by evening 6 pm on Sunday.

While another 10,000 to 15,000 pilgrims were waiting in the queue lines.

The Anna Prasadam and Health departments of the TTD also made arrangements to provide free food and water at regular intervals for the waiting pilgrims.

The sectoral officers who were deployed for crowd management also maintained pilgrim queue lines in a systematic manner with the assistance of Srivari Seva volunteers and scouts and TTD security personnel without causing any inconvenience to pilgrims.

The first day of New Year 2017 also witnessed huge turnout of devotees in all the local temples in and around the pilgrim city.

The temples were tastefully decorated and illuminated with colourful lights and wore a festive look.

Srinivasa Mangapuram and Alarmelu Mangapuram temples witnessed a large rush of devotees and the darshan began from 3 am onwards.

While other temples including Prasanna Venkteswara Swamy at Appalayagunta, Kodandarama Swamy temple, Govindaraja Swamy and Kapileswara temples in the city attracted huge rush on the occasion of New Year.

Similar is the scenario at Chandragiri Ramalayam, Nagulapuram, Narayanavanam, Nagari Kariyamanikya Swamy temple and Valmikipuram temples in Chittoor district.

Meanwhile TTD EO Dr D Sambasiva Rao also visited Srinivasa Mangapuram and Kapilatheertham temples and inspected the arrangements.