The abode of Lord Venkateswara witnessed heavy rush of pilgrims with the summer holidays coming to an end on Sunday. The two queue complexes were full, resulting in the queue line extending beyond the complexes.
Devotees had a tough time spending long hours in the darshan lines with the waiting time stretching more than 20 hours. With no respite being seen, the temple management dispensed with the issuance of Rs. 300 special entry darshan tickets since Sunday afternoon. The TTD administration was totally caught unaware due to the sudden surge in the pilgrim crowd. The turnout was so demanding that the staff manning various cottage allotment counters abandoned their office fearing the ire of the public.
The temple authorities estimate having provided darshan of the presiding deity to about two lakh pilgrims on both the days. Over 80,000 pilgrims are believed to have trekked the wearisome footpath leading to the hill temple in the past 48 hours. Serpentine queue lines were the order of the day. Devotees were rather forced to spend long hours even at the laddu issuing counters.
