Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams will soon introduce ‘Break Darshan’ and ‘Asirvatham’ tickets for devotees at the Venkatnarayana Road temple in T. Nagar.
After presiding over the swearing-in of 27 Local Advisory Committee members on Sunday, TTD Chairman Y.V. Subba Reddy said thousands of devotees were visiting the temple on Saturdays, holidays and during the festival season. The long-pending demand of devotees to introduce break darshan will be soon be fulfilled, he added. Since a large number of devotees were undertaking ‘pada yatra’ from Chennai to Tirumala, steps are being taken to organise shelters with basic amenities for resting en route.
Mr. Subba Reddy said after the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, the maximum number of devotees visiting Tirumala was now from Tamil Nadu.
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This was the reason why Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy appointed five members from Tamil Nadu to the TTD Board of Trustees.
TTD Board Member and Local Advisory Committee president J. Sekar Reddy said parking was a huge problem at the T. Nagar temple, particularly during weekends. The LAC, comprising 27 members, had two former Judges of the Madras High Court — Justices K.B.K. Vasuki and P. Kalaiarasan — and retired IAS officer Rajendran as advisors.
Steps were being taken to arrange parking of vehicles at two schools located close to the temple, after class hours.
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“We are planning to propose ₹100-200 for break darshan and ₹500 for Asirvatham ticketsAt least 75,000 devotees visit the temple on Saturdays and other auspicious occasions. We want to ensure that normal traffic is not affected on the Venkatanarayana Road due to this rush,” Mr. Reddy said.