TTD board wants to construct Venkateshwara temple in Ayodhya

The trustee board of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams has approved a proposal to construct Lord Venkateshwara temple at Ayodhya "if the Ram mandir trust comes forward to allot land to the TTD for the purpose."

If not a temple, TTD said it is willing to construct a Bhajana Mandiram with pilgrim amenities complex there.

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The TTD, at present, is preparing to perform Bhumi Pujas for the construction of Srivari temples in Mumbai and Jammu.

On Saturday, the TTD board, which manages the Lord Venkateshwara temple in Tirumala, met under the chairmanship of Y V Subba Reddy and made several important resolutions.

The board approved Rs 2,937.82 crore as the budget for the financial year 2021-22, which is about Rs 373 crore less than the previous year's estimate.

While the TTD had last year expected revenue of Rs 1,351 crore in the form of Hundi donations and other capital receipts, the revised estimate is only Rs 731 crore. The temple was shut for about three months last summer because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

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The temple is yet to resume the usual flow of pilgrims which is about 75,000 daily.

The board has however decided to resume the Arjitha Sevas inside the temple from April 14 with devotees' physical presence for the advance booked Sevas. Such devotees should observe all the Covid-19 guidelines and produce a negative report of a Covid-19 test done three days ahead of their Tirumala visit.

The trustee board has approved a plan to provide Covid-19 vaccination for all TTD employees.