Devotees soak in piety, devotion

It is a mind-boggling exercise, but Tirumala Tirupati Devastanams (TTD) has factored in all aspects to tackle the multitude of devotees expected at the hilltop temple at Tirumala in the next 40 days. Tirumala, the abode of Lord Venakateswara (Balaji), is all decked up with flower medians, electrical display stations, security barricades, extended parking lots; streamlined food parks, laddu prasadam counters and waiting queues.

The nine-day annual Brahmotsavam festival is the pinnacle of events organised by the TTD out of a total of 450 festivals round the year. Brahmotsavam is celebrated in memory of Lord Venkateswara's self manifestation day under the leadership of Brahma, the son of Vishnu.

Due to celestial configurations of adhika masam this year there will be  two Brahmotsavams--Salakatla Brahmotsavam (September 16 to 24) and  Navaratri Brahmotsavam (October 14 to 22). For nine days, the serene and lush green sanguine surroundings of Tirumala will throb with the crescendo of “Namo Venkatesaya” chants as millions of devotees throng the hill shrine. They seek blessings of their revered deity and fulfil their vows in return for the boons showered by him.

“We are always ready throughout the year to receive hordes of devotees (about 2 million a month),” says TTD Executive Officer D Sambasiva Rao. “The focus is on security, cleanliness and also and provision of extended spiritual and devotional elixir to pilgrims during Brahmotsavams,” he says.

Taking cue from past, special care has been taken by putting up barricades some 3 sq km around Tirumala spiritual hub comprising four Mada Streets, Swami Pushkarini and the Vaikuntham queue complex. The  galleries of 4 Mada Streets  are readied to accommodate 2.5 lakh devotees for the Vahana processions of the presiding deity of Tirumala, which  is the hallmark and zenith of the nine-day Brahmotsavam festival. “Darshan of Lord  on procession Vahanams is equivalent to darshan of Mula Virat in the temple,” says AVS Ramana Dikshitulu, the chief priest of Tirumala.

The TTD has kept a buffer of 6 lakh laddus for distribution. The common man darshan hours  (Sarva Darshan) have been increased to nearly 20 hours, cutting short all VVIP darshans and cancellation of Arjita Sevas.

“Brahmotsavam is an event when the Lord himself comes out of the temple to give darshan to multitude of devotees in open on Mada streets,” says Dollar Sheshadri, another prominent Agama ritual exponent of TTD.

TTD has put up 23 big LED screen TVs and the SVBC, the in-house channel has been directed to deploy more Jimmy Jibs-360 degree camera holder cranes during Vahana sevas to present life-size imagery to devotees.

To support the TTD staff, about 2,800 security personnel, equal number of Srivari Sevaks and 600 Scouts and Guides and NCC cadets have been deployed with a massive assignment of the NSG and other para military forces to guard the temple and manage the huge congregation during the nine-day event.

In view of perennial security threat to the world’s most hoary Hindu shrine, vigilance will be stepped up with Drones monitoring crowd movement from sky high.

“We anticipate a huge number of foot walker devotees from all over south India and it is necessary to monitor their movements and provide basic amenities to them,” says K S Srinivasa Raju, the JEO of Tirumala.

TTD PRO Ravi says that the TTD has set up a media centre at Tirumala with internet, fax and computers for benefit of nearly 300 scribes arriving  to cover the celestial event. The APSRTC will be operating special trips and four cranes and reserve drivers are on standby to meet any emergency.   

All Arjita Sevas have been cancelled and only privileged darshans and protocol VIPs are allowed in limited numbers with an aim to enable more darshan timings to common pilgrims. Annaprasadam, tonsuring, health services have been increased during this period in view of the pilgrim influx. Extra laddu quota has also been cancelled so that everyone can have at least one laddu prasadam to take home.

According to Chittoor District Collector Siddharth Jain  special focus has been laid on sanitation in Tirupati city. “We have set up information and rescue cells to help the pilgrims. The RTO is also directed to check the fitness of vehicles to ply on ghat roads and instructed to brief the taxi drivers on safety travel. The electricity department is also instructed to be prepared with additional power supply in the case of an emergency. While enough water will be supplied to Tirumala through pumping from Kandaleru and Kailasagiri which will suffice next 80 days,” he says.

IG of Rayalaseema Venugopala Krishna said, all the departments are working in unison with the TTD to give the best possible services to multitude of visiting pilgrims. "With this team effort we are confident of making the event a grand success", he added.

 Tirumala Joint Executive Officer KS Sreenivasa Raju says:“This year every minute issue has been taken care of. The entry and exit points into galleries have been designed in such a way that the pilgrim is not put any sort of inconvenience,” he maintained.

Police have deployed special teams from the neighbouring districts and given instructions to them on pilgrim crowd management. As traffic is bifurcated for RTC and private vehicles, the pilgrim crowd management will also become easier. Seven fire fighting vehicles have also been deployed to tackle any emergency situation.