Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams Executive Officer A.V. Dharma Reddy has said that the TTD is exploring ways and means to avoid the presence of physical queue lines in the sarva darshanam of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala.
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Though the TTD to a major extent has been successful in obviating physical queue lines in the Special Entry Darshan (SED) system, under which it provides over 25,000 tickets of ₹300 each every day by espousing the virtual (online) mode, it finds itself pushed against the wall when it comes to sarva darshanam meant for ordinary devotees.
The TTD has already introduced Slotted Sarva Darshan (SSD) for the benefit of ordinary pilgrim, wherein the pilgrim is asked to report at Vaikuntam complex at the appropriate time as mentioned on the darshan token.
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Though the SSD system proved successful and it looked that the virtual mode would become the order of the day, the sudden and unexpected surge in the pilgrim crowd on April 12 played havoc with the TTD plans forcing it to revert to the decade-old physical queue line system.
Despite all the efforts to find a lasting solution to replace the physical queue line system, a permanent solution is still eluding, Mr. Reddy rued.
Addressing the valedictory session of the two-day workshop for journalists at SVETA on Tuesday, Mr. Reddy explained the evolution of various types of darshan systems from the direct entry into the temple through Mahadwaram in 1950, when the daily turnout in the crowd was a meager 619 pilgrims on an average a day to the Laghu in 1992 and Maha laghu darshan system in 2005, the introduction of Sudarshan tokens in 1999 to SED in 2017 and SSD in 2019 when the turnout in the pilgrim crowd shot up to 75,000 a day.
Briefing about various development works taken up by TTD like construction of Parakamani hall, additional boondi kitchen, enhancement of laddu production to over 5.5 lakhs a day, improvements to SV Museum in Tirumala by investing ₹100 crore, construction of SV temple in Mumbai with the assistance of a single donor, he said the management was tirelessly working in providing a comfortable and hassle-free darshan to the pilgrims.
Earlier, JEO Sada Bharghavi explained recent initiatives taken up by the management like the construction of Sri Padmavati Childrens Heart Centre, cleft palate and cochlear implantation programs in BIRRD, Geo-tagging and Geo-fencing of TTD assets through a power point presentation, and said that every single pie donated by pilgrims was safe and utilised for public use.