The Seshachalam encounter has nevertheless found its echo felt at the Tirumala shrine , resulting in a low turnout of pilgrims.
The subsequent protests that rocked TN and the suspension of services by the RTC fearing retaliation have seen a dip in the turnout of Tamil devotees who form major chunk of the Tirumala crowd. Statistical data reveals that Tamil devotees constitute to over 30 per cent of the visiting crowd.
The low turnout in the Tamil pilgrims has considerably eased the waiting hours of darshan at the hill town.
Contrary to arduous waiting hours even the devotees in the ordinary darshan lines are able to finish their darshan in a couple of hours.
The fact that devotees could have the darshan of the deity within 30 minutes on Thursday night speaks volumes about the prevailing conditions atop the sacred shrine. .
