Tirupathi: The VIP break darshan facility at Tirumala temple, which mostly caters to the high and mighty, will soon be available for common devotees.
The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) plans to launch a new scheme that will allow common devotees to get the ‘VIP’ privilege.
The temple administration is planning to link the donations offered to the newlyfloated Srivani Trust with VIP break darshan which will bring the common devotees under the ambit of VIP darshan.
The Sri Venkateswara Alaya Nirmanam trust (Srivani trust) was recently floated for preservation and construction of Lord Venkateswara temples across the country.
With the TTD having already introduced a simplified break darshan system, it is now focusing on making the common devotees experience the privilege too.
As per the new scheme, any devotee who donates ₹10,000 to the Srivani Trust would be issued a VIP darshan ticket.
As of now, devotees wishing to avail the facility have to get recommendation letters from influential persons (political leaders, top government officials etc).
The TTD’s joint executive officer in Tirumala has been vested with the discretionary powers to scrutinise the letters and issue VIP darshan tickets to the devotees.
Though VIP break darshan tickets are priced at a modest ₹500 (per ticket), many devotees, despite willing to pay the amount, fail to get the limited tickets as most of them go to influential persons or those with recommendation letters. People also often fall victim to touts by coughing up to ₹₹10,000 for a single ticket.
Taking all these factors into account, TTD EO Anil Kumar Singhal is learnt to have designed this new scheme, for which a dedicated quota of VIP darshan tickets would be set aside for devotees donating ₹10,000 to the Srivani Trust.
The move will also help in eliminating the menace of touts and middlemen.
Singhal said the new scheme would be launched soon in line with chief minisiter Jaganmohan Reddy’s commitment to ensure a hassle-free darshan for all devotees visiting Tirumala.
Source: TimesOfIndia
