The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) is seeking to dispense with some of the ‘Arjitha’ (paid) sevas at the Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple at Tirumala and utilise the time thus saved to benefit the common devotees.
Some of the paid sevas were introduced at the temple a few decades ago in order to raise money for the temple exchequer at a time when footfalls at the temple were low. However, with the number of devotees visiting the temple rising sharply over the years, the TTD management has decided to cut down on the paid sevas during the peak season.
Apart from the mandatory rituals performed at the temple, some ‘optional’ ones have been introduced over the years in tune with pilgrims’ aspirations. The ‘Ashtadala Pada Padmaradhana’ was introduced in 1984 marking the TTD’s golden jubilee year, to be conducted on Tuesdays. ‘Visesha Puja’ and ‘Sahasra Kalasabhishekam’ performed on Mondays and Wednesdays respectively, have been done away with. ‘Tiruppavada’ performed on Thursdays has been temporarily postponed.
“All these Sevas take over an hour, for which only a handful of devotees are allowed, while thousands wait in the queue lines outside. By restricting the same during a period of heavy rush, we are able to provide darshan to nearly 8,000 persons,” says TTD Executive Officer A.V. Dharma Reddy.
Speaking to The Hindu on Thursday, he said that the measure would help the management reach out to the common devotees waiting in the free queue lines for darshan of the Lord. However, the Sevas will not be done away with totally, but performed once a year, he said.
The temple’s financials are reportedly back in good health with the subsiding of the pandemic, he said. “Against the average footfall of 70,000 persons a day in 2019, the shrine is now visited by around 90.,000 pilgrims a day. The daily collection at ‘Srivari Hundi’ used be around ₹3 crore. After the pandemic period, it is now hovering around ₹4.5 crore on an average and touched the ₹6 crore mark last week,” Mr. Dharma Reddy said, indicating the need for prioritising darshan for the masses.
