The sacred shrine of Lord Venkateswara witnessed unprecedented crowds on Sunday on the eve of Vaikunta Ekadasi festival.
While the second ghat road leading to the shrine witnessed heavy traffic throughout the day, both trekking routes witnessed a continuous flow of pilgrims beginning from the early hours.
According to estimates, over 50,000 pilgrims trekked to the Tirumala temple on foot on Sunday alone.
By noon, it was chock-a-block as the darshan lines spilled out of the massive Vaikuntam complex to the Narayanagiri gardens and from thereon to the mada streets encircling the sacred shrine.
Temporary sheds built using German technology all along the mada streets came in helpful for devotees as showers lashed the town since morning.
The TTD Nitya Annadanam personnel faced a tough time supplying free food packets, milk and water bottles to the waiting devotees in the darshan lines. Dozens of cartons of drinking water bottles were dumped at every waiting shed.
Senior officials who were specially deputed for the purpose and assigned duties were seen moving constantly along the darshan lines interacting with the devotees and meeting their requirements.
The rush was so huge that the TTD authorities were forced to appeal to the devotees through its public broadcasting system to not join the darshan lines any further. Officials urged the devotees to join the darshan lines on Monday afternoon for the Dwadasi darshan on Tuesday.
Decked up
Meanwhile, the entire temple complex was tastefully decorated with flowers and colourful lights befitting the auspicious occasion.
The temple will be opened at 12.30 a.m. on Monday soon after the completion of Dhanurmasam and other mandatory pre-dawn rituals followed by the opening of the celestial ‘Vaikunta Dwaram’ at 2.00 a.m.
On the other hand, incidents of police excesses marred the festive spirit. Pilgrims were forced to alight only at a select few points and were forced to walk for long distances along with their luggage. This apart, restrictions were imposed on the movement of taxis and cabs, further adding to the woes of pilgrims.
