The TTD looks determined to provide online Sarva darshan tickets for the benefit of common pilgrims.
An indication to this effect was already given by TTD Chairman Y.V. Subba Reddy a couple of days back when he had categorically stated that efforts are underway to provide online sarva darshan tokens on par with ₹300 special entry darshan tickets.
At present, 7,000 on line tickets of special entry darshan and 2,000 off line tokens of Sarva darshan are made available to the devotees on a daily basis.
As the off line tokens demand the physical presence of devotees at the counters, TTD for the time being has confined the issuance to the people of the district and at the same time had also appealed to the devotees from other parts of the country not to embark on a pilgrimage to the sacred town without a valid darshan ticket.
Though the appeal was made with a noble intention to avoid unnecessary congregation during the pandemic times, devotees from neighboring states flocked the counters in huge numbers during the past couple of days subjecting the authorities to anxious moments.
On the other hand, with the auspicious Tamil ‘Purattasi’ month also round the corner the TTD not only feels it hard in regulating the teeming crowds but also fears that all the covid health protocols which it had adhered to strictly since the break of the pandemic may go for a toss. The main reason for its growing panic is that devotees from Tamil Nadu normally turnout in large numbers for the darshan of the deity at the hill temple during the month.
It is against this back drop that TTD strongly feels that issuance of ‘online’ Slotted Sarva Darshan (SSD) tokens alone is the elixir for all its problems as it provides an opportunity to the common pilgrims to be aware of their date and time of darshan in advance and plan their pilgrimage accordingly.
For the present, the existing system of providing off line tokens at Tirupati will be continued till the modalities for the online issuance of SSD tokens are finalized.
