As the Tirumala temple remains closed in view of the lockdown, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) management has decided to at least commence distribution of the famous laddu to the devotees on reduced rates. The laddu, costing ₹50, is now available at ₹25 till the lockdown ends.
The plan is to prepare laddus on receipt of request/indent from bulk takers in major centres. Once they are prepared, laddus will be transported to the nearest TTD Kalyana Mandapam or information centre. Buyers can then take the laddus home for distribution.
“We have no idea of when we can provide darshan to the devotees. Based on the steady flow of requests, our plan is to at least reach the prasadam to the devout,” said TTD trust board Chairman Y.V. Subba Reddy at a media conference here on Wednesday.
As India Post or private courier services have not yet become fully operational and given the logistical hassles involved, the TTD’s role will be confined to shifting the consignment from its Tirumala kitchen to the information centres located in select cities. “The buyers will have to collect the laddus from our centres,” Mr. Subba Reddy added.
Helpline
Even as the broad contours of the scheme are being worked out based on the demand-supply mechanism, the preparation will largely be based on orders received on a daily basis.
“For placing orders, people can call Tirumala temple Deputy Executive Officer Harindra Nath at 98495 75952 and Potu Peishkar Srinivasan at 97010 92777,” said Additional Executive Officer (Tirumala) A.V. Dharma Reddy. The potu has a capacity to prepare 3-4 lakh laddus every day.
The laddus will be sent to the information centres in the 13 district headquarters of Andhra Pradesh, apart from Chennai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru.
e-hundi sees rise
There are regular visitors to Tirumala from across the Telugu States and Tamil Nadu, some even visiting once every month.
As if to compensate their inability to offer prayers to their favourite deity, many devotees have apparently contributed online extensively to the e-hundi, which is evident from the increase in collections. The e-hundi received ₹1.97 crore for the month of April against the ₹1.79 crore netted in April 2019.
