Tirumala temple to remain closed on June 21

‘Shrine will be reopened at 2.30 p.m. after solar eclipse’

The Lord Venkateswara temple at Tirumala will remain closed in view of solar eclipse on June 21.

“The solar eclipse will be seen from 10.18 a.m. and 1.38 p.m. The temple will be reopened after the purification rituals after 2.30 p.m.,” TTD Executive Officer Anil Kumar Singhal told the media on Sunday. Referring to the posts on removal of 1,300 outsourced employees during the lockdown period that are doing rounds on various social media platforms, Mr. Singhal termed them as ‘rumours’ .

Property sale

He also brushed aside the talks that the TTD was arbitrarily selling away its properties. “The TTD has been selling unviable lands since 1974 and the decision to sell these properties was taken years ago by the ten trust board, which was misinterpreted by ‘vested interests’ to defame the institution,” he said.

Mr. Singhal expressed his displeasure over the manner in which the decision of making the laddus available to the devotees during the lockdown was “mocked at by dubbing the move as selling the prasadam as sweets”.

“The TTD has sold laddus at ₹25 a piece during the lockdown in all district headquarters of the State, apart from Hyderabad and Bengaluru, despite incurring ₹45 per piece as the expenditure,” said Mr. Singhal.