The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) is anticipating a heavy turnout in the pilgrim crowd during the ensuing Brahmotsavams of Lord Venkateswara scheduled to kick start from September 27.
Though the annual festival is more than two months away, the top echelons of management are bracing up themselves for the fete from now and also reckon the perpetual spell of pilgrim crowds currently experienced atop the town as the harbinger for the mega event.
According to TTD Executive Officer A.V. Dharma Reddy more emphasis this year will be on crowd management and maintenance of hygiene atop the hill temple. Despite already three weeks into July the darshan lines still remain spilled out to a couple of kilometers outside the Vaikuntam complex which bespeaks the unrelenting flow in the pilgrim crowds.
Predicting the current trend to last till Brahmotsavams, he said there will be a phenomenal turnout in the pilgrim crowd on the day of ‘Garuda seva’ on October 1 as it coincides with Tirumala Sanivaralu — considered auspicious for the people of Telugu states as well as neighboring Tamil Nadu. This apart, the fact that the festival is being organized in public after a span two years owing to the pandemic is also likely to draw pilgrims in multitude.
It is for this reason that it has been decided to go for a heavy deputation of staff during the festival period.
In an exclusive chat with The Hindu he said senior officials will be deputed in sufficient numbers and entrusted with responsibilities of each wing separately, endowed with decision making powers and shall be held accountable for any lapse.
Another subject of focus will be to facilitate maximum percentage of visiting devotees have the darshan of the main deity inside the temple besides providing a fool-proof security. The TTD vigilance and district police will be asked to work in tandem and good understanding.
The renovation of about 1,500 cottages the works of which are currently under progress will be completed ahead of the festival and the services of additional barbers utilized at Kalyanakatta.
