The TTD has warned devotees against using middlemen for darshan tickets, emphasizing strict action against those involved in ticket fraud. Find out where to book darshan tickets
The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) has appealed to devotees to book tickets online with their Aadhaar card number and address only through TTD’s official website for darshan of Lord Venkateswara and not to book their darshan tickets by resorting to middlemen.
This comes after four devotees from Tamil Nadu entered Vaikuntham on Thursday morning with fake tickets for Tirumala Srivari Kalyanotsavam. When the TTD vigilance officials identified and interrogated them, they said that one Annadurai, the manager of an internet centre from Tirupattur in Vellore district of Tamil Nadu, had changed the last numbers of his passport and booked tickets for Kalyanotsavam online and sold them at exorbitant prices.
The TTD vigilance officials lodged a complaint with the police and registered a case against the accused person. There have been complaints that some middlemen are charging exorbitant amounts from devotees in lieu of booking tickets for darshan.
The TTD management has been working relentlessly to eliminate middlemen. The TTD has said that devotees should not resort to middlemen for darshan and face problems. The tickets received by the devotees will be checked once again by the TTD vigilance staff before going for darshan.
Devotees will have to face unnecessary difficulties if the tickets obtained by them are found to be fake at the time of checking. The TTD has warned that strict action will be taken against middlemen who are engaged in the business of darshan tickets and seva tickets.
Meanwhile, the rush of devotees in Tirumala continues. On Thursday, 63,202 devotees paid obeisance to the deity. Devotees have paid Rs 4.37 crore in the form of gifts to the deity. At around noon on Friday, devotees were found waiting in all the compartments of the Vaikuntham Queue Complex for darshan. The queue extends up to the Travellers Bungalow Cottages for darshan. According to the TTD, it will take 18 hours for Srivari darshan. On Thursday, 34,057 devotees offered obeisance to the deity.
The TTD has taken a slew of special measures to ensure that devotees are not inconvenienced. The Vaikuntham Queue Complex provides milk, buttermilk, khichdi, upma, sambar rice, Perugu Annam, sundal for devotees. TTD will issue time slot tokens for devotees at Srinivasam, Vishnu Nivasam and Govindaraja Swamy in Tirupati.
