Overcrowded Tirupati to allow only one visit a year

[tarunraju]

Getting a darshan of Lord Venkateshwara at Tirumala may soon be reduced to an annual ritual and entering the temple itself challenging.

The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam plans to restrict the number of darshans by each devotee to only one a year. And a 'biometric system' will record fingerprints and photographs of pilgrims so that no one gets darshan tickets for the second time in a year.

"The proposal is being mooted because of the steep rise in the number of pilgrims. On an average, 60,000-75,000 pilgrims visit the temple every day. It may go up to one lakh in the next three years. At present, pilgrims have to wait for 12-15 hours to have a darshan on peak days. To avoid this, we are contemplating this only once-in-a-year darshan," J. Satyanarayana, chairman of TTD's specified authority, said.

The BJP and local religious leaders have slammed this move. "It is not proper to prevent people from visiting the god any number of times. The TTD should make alternative arrangements for speedy darshan rather than coming out with crazy ideas," BJP leader Prabhakar said.

Following similar protests, the TTD will review another controversial plan to bring the temple under the purview of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). The TTD had recommended the state government that the temple and the other ancient shrines controlled by the trust board be handed over to the ASI to preserve their architectural heritage.

BJP state unit president G. Kishan Reddy said the temple would lose its sanctity if it is handed over to the ASI.

"There would be severe restrictions to the movement of pilgrims ... The TTD would lose the powers to spend on the upkeep of the temple and for every small work, it will have to knock the doors of the ASI," he said.

TTD executive officer IYR Krishna Rao said, "The ownership will continue to be with the TTD, only the upkeep will be done by the ASI."

The move apparently follows controversial decisions by the previous board like demolition of a 1,000-pillar mandapam and gold-plating of the entire complex.

"If the temple is handed over to the ASI, no one can tamper with its struc-Pilgrims wait for 12-15 hours for darshan. ture," a TTD official said.

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/S...-tirupati-to-allow-only-one-visit-a-year.html

prepare to pay for their mismanagement. TTD board has become a joke.

 

[S.A.T.A]

Not a very ingenious solution towards implement crowd control,TDP seems to be convinced that its the over exuberance of Lord Srinivasa's devotees that is the cause for all that ails Tirupathi these days.If this brainwave is even implemented,most people will would choose to visit Tirupathi only on certain auspicious days in year,for the eg on the occasion of Brahmotsavam,imagine the kind of crowd they will be handling then.This news amidst reports coming from Shabarimala,where the Devaswom board there is contemplating keeping Shabarimala open throughout the year,as a consequence of this years stampede tragedy.I reckon devotees would prefer waiting for 15 odd hours than having to wait for 364 days of a year,for the Lords darshan.

Instead of wasting their time contemplating of proposals that goes against the religious tenets of the faith,the respective temple boards should expend their energy and resource on expanding the facilities in these places of pilgrimage.