Several callers at the ‘Dial your EO’ hailed Sri Venkateswara Bhakti Channel (SVBC) for live streaming various Parayanam events conducted at Tirumala during the lockdown period.
At the TTD’s official phone-in programme conducted here on Sunday,callers appreciated the TTD for airing the programme live everyday during the pandemic.
The TTD has been conducting mass chanting events like Veda Parayanam, Sundarakanda Pathanam, Virataparva Parayanam and more recently,the Bhagavad Gita, seeking global peace and wellness.
“Since its inception twelve years back, never did the SVBC receive such an overwhelming response for its programmes,” Executive Officer Anil Kumar Singhal observed during the call. We are also contemplating to design programmes for children and youth, he added.
When a caller sought protection of sacred chariots in the backdrop of Antarvedi incident, Mr. Singhal explained the hi-fi security measures for the TTD’s properties, including chariots. He mentioned that the TTD’s Chief Vigilance and Security Officer and Superintendent of Police (Tirupati Urban) had an elaborate meeting recently to extend protection to all TTD temples.
Earlier, Mr. Singhal announced that the audit of TTD properties by Comptroller and Auditor General was aimed at higher transparency in administration, in view of some ‘vested interests’ dragging the TTD frequently into controversies on alleged diversion of funds other than propagating Hindu Dharma. “The CAG audit will put an end to it”, he concluded.
‘Be wary of fake websites’
In yet another statement on a note of caution, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams(TTD)’s vigilance department on Sunday appealed to the devotees not to get carried away by middlemen offering seva tickets of ‘Srivari Vastram’, ‘Udayasthamana and Abhisheka Seva’.
The statement said that some devotees were landing in the net of middlemen or were getting lured by fake websites for darshan despite repeated appeals from the management cautioning devotees against falling into such traps.
In view of the COVID-19 restrictions, tickets for such sevas are not issued to anyone. All Arjitha (paid) Seva tickets can be procured only through the official website www.tirupatibalaji.ap.gov.in, the vigilance officials clarified, adding that the tickets would be issued only after the resumption of the services and that too, through lucky dip platform.
The department once again appealed to the devotees not to trust the middlemen making such fancy offers and that the TTD management would take stringent action against such misleading elements.
