For the second day on Friday, Tirumala reeled under the impact of crowds. Arrangements made by the TTD were thrown out of gear, and devotees, particularly those in the ordinary darshan lines, were subjected to great difficulty.
The darshan lines stretched out to over 5 km outside the Vaikuntam-II complex meant for ordinary devotees and traffic restrictions complicated matters.
With the local police and the Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanams’ security personnel blocking all routes leading to the entry point, pilgrims had to walk a long way for their darshan. TTD-run buses were also not allowed to ply up to the entrance.
The serpentine queues that were instantly set up further compounded the difficulties of devotees. Not knowing as to where the actual entry point was, devotees had to rush to join the darshan lines.
Braving the rain that lashed the town in the afternoon, devotees stood drenched in the queues. Even women with children chose to remain in the queue instead of running for shelter.
While it took a staggering 18 hours for those in the Sarva Darshanam queues to have a darshan of the deity, it was a protracted 10-hour wait for those who reached the town on foot.
According to information available in the evening, over 75,000 devotees were estimated to have reached the town since Thursday.
