Author: P Neelima
Publication: The Times of India
Date: May 26, 2007
With the summer holidays now in full swing,
the abode of Lord Venkateswara is teeming with pilgrims from all over the
country. The rush can be gauged from the fact that in the last one month alone-April
24 to May 23-the temple has recorded the visit of a mindboggling 22 lakh pilgrims
against 15.3 lakh for the corresponding period last year. On some days, the
number of pilgrims has topped 80,000.
As a consequence, the waiting period for darshan
for general pilgrims has touched 75 hours (over three days). For those paying
Rs 50, the waiting period for a darshan of Lord Venkateswara has hit 60 hours.
The rush is expected to continue for another fortnight. The coffers of the
Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) is also swelling what with a hundi collection
of Rs 25 crore in the last one month. The previous year's collection during
the same period was Rs 23 crore. TTD's annual revenue tops Rs 900 crore. "Every
summer the pilgrim traffic goes up, but this year it has been much more. Even
on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, which are less preferred for darshan by devotees,
have also seen massive crowds,'' says a temple official. Though most of the
pilgrims are from South India, there is a steady rush from places like Delhi
and Ahmedabad also.
