TIRUPATI TO ALLOW ‘MAXIMUM PILGRIMS’ DURING CLEANING
HYDERABAD: The trust that administers the Venkateshwara Temple in Tirumala on Tuesday decided to allow as many pilgrims as possible into the temple during the once-in-12-year cleaning of the shrine from August 11 to 16, senior temple officials said on Tuesday. “We shall try to accommodate a maximum number of pilgrims within the available time for darshan. We shall work out the number of pilgrims that could be allowed in a day or two so that we can restrict darshan only to that number…” Putta Sudhakar Yadav, chairman of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), the board that administers the temple, said.
TTD had earlier this month announced the closure of the temple for the first time in its history. The announcement prompted resistance from Hindu seers and Opposition parties, forcing chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu to intervene. He asked the TTD to reconsider its decision.
At a meeting on Tuesday, the board decided the pilgrims would be allowed through a certain section of the temple complex. TTD executive officer Anil Kumar Singhal said a feedback had been obtained from pilgrims on the possibility of arranging darshan for a limited number of pilgrims.
“Nearly 33% of the people endorsed the idea of limited darshans, while 22% felt that the temple could be closed during the cleansing ritual. We have cancelled special and VIP break darshans during this period...’’ he said.
Retired Tirumala temple head priest AV Ramana Deekshitulu questioned the decision to close down the temple . “During my tenure as the head priest, there used to be regular flow of pilgrims during the ritual of temple cleansing...” he said.