Tridandi Srimannarayana Ramanuja Chinna Jeeyar, who heads the Sri Tridandi Srimannarayana Ramanuja Mutt on Thursday visisted Tirumala shrine and offered his prayers to Lord Venkateswara. The Swamiji has earlier vowed not to visit Tirumala temple, until Veyyikalla Mandapam is constructed. However, he was present at Tirumala and had darshan of the diety. After darshan, Temple authorities presented Laddu prasadam to the saint.
Speaking to reporters outside the temple, Jeeyar Swamy said that a 216-ft, Panchaloha idol of Sri Ramanujacharya will be set up in Hyderabad, in March 2018. The statue coming up at Shamshabad and costing Rs 130 crore was being build in the year of 2017 to commemorate the 1000th Jayanthi of Sri Ramanuja. The gigantic statue will be sited on a lotus held up by 36 massive elephants and it would be taller than the Statue of Liberty in New York by 65 feet. He said that all the rituals are going on satisfactorily at Tirumala. He hoped that the Mandapam will come up soon.