About 2.66 crore people from across the globe visited the celebrated hill temple of Lord Venkateswara during the year 2016.
The temple which is known for its plenteous riches also has retained its glory as the most-preferred pilgrim destination in the country.
What is interesting is the fact that more than 67.12 lakh pilgrims had the darshan of the deity by way of purchasing the Rs.300 online darshan tickets adding a record revenue of Rs. 201 crore to the TTD coffers.
The statistics not only reveal an increase in the turnout of the pilgrims by 20.12 lakh but also reflect an increase of Rs. 60 crore compared to the previous year (2015). In addition to this, the proceeds received from the ‘hundi’ (by way of offerings from the visiting devotees) also recorded a staggering revenue of Rs. 1,018 crore in 2016 — the highest ever in the annals of the hill temple. The previous best was Rs. 904 crore in 2015. Yet in another record of its own sorts, the temple also sold about 10.34 crore laddus — which have a great demand from among the pilgrim fraternity during the just concluded calendar year.
