No rooms without Darshan ticket in Tirumala now

February 22,2015

Henceforth you will get rooms in hill shrine of Tirumala only and after you have procured your slot for darshan of Lord Venkateswara on internet.

A decision to this effect has been announced after a marathon session of the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu with the top brass of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam today.

State endowment minister P Manikyala Rao told reporters that the move was aimed at reducing the proliferation of pilgrims crush on Tirumala and their long wait for rooms while those with rooms were in darshan queues. "We want to remove the mismatch for accommodation and darshan at Tirumala," he said.

In another major initiative the TTD plans to stop all current issue of tickets for arjita sevas ( paid darshan rituals) and everything is now placed on internet. "Even the Rs.300 per head Sheegra darshan tickets which were earlier issued in the queue lines when introduced two years ago are also now made available on internet."

It may be noted that all the costliest and prestigious seva tickets of TTD at Tirumala are booked in advance years ahead. For example the Abhisekham and Melchat sevas are not available for a minimum of a decade for common man. But whenever there is a absentee the same tickets are sold in lucky draw, a day in advance, says TTD temple official Chinnamgari Ramana.

The popular southern hill shrine has been attracting around 65000-75000 pilgrims daily with almost 20,000 coming by walk from Tirupati to Tirumala. We have around 7000 rooms but they become inadequate when most of rooms get blocked with devotees in darshan queues, says the minister. Linking darshan with rooms would be a boon as nobody with darshan tickets would be denied rooms.

Last year, the TTD recorded a whopping 77 lakh laddus sales about 2 crore footfalls during 2013-14 and as always there was huge demand for affordable rooms .TTD has set up several Pilgrim Amenities Complex(PAC) at Tirumala which could accommodate almost 20,000 pilgrims in one stretch with just lockers and bed space .

The Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanam has set forth a massive restructuring of their infrastructure to the booming demand which would further swell in the summer months. "Even now we have huge crowds on weekends when almost one lakh pilgrims will throng the shrine," he says.

Earlier in the day the Chief Minister directed the TTD operated SVBC (Sri Venkateswara Bhakti channel) to broadcast programs linking science with Bhakti cult to attract youth on the path of righteousness and Bhakti.

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Tirumala Temple Replicas to Come Up in All States?

By B Murali

22nd February 2015

TIRUMALA: The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) is planning a massive programme to construct Tirumala temple replicas in all the State capitals in the country. TTD executive officer D Sambasiva Rao is reportedly currently busy drafting the plan.

According to highly placed sources, following an interaction between Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and the Prime Minister’s Office, top officials of the TTD have been instructed to draft a project report for construction of Sri Venkateswara Divya Kshethrams in the capital cities of all the 29 states. The exclusive Sri Venkateswara temples are proposed in at least 10 acres of land with administration also exactly on the lines of the TTD.

The same poojas and rituals being performed at Tirumala since ages would be followed in the replica temples too.

It is hoped that the initiative would spread awareness about the rich traditions, rituals and the importance of the Tirumala temple and inspire people in other states to visit the main temple at Tirumala.

The TTD is planning to contact the chief secretaries, and if necessary chief ministers, of all the states for allotment of land for the proposed temples.

The engineering department has been asked to finalise a uniform architecture for stone-based construction of the temples, the sources said.

Currently, two Venkateswara temples -- one at Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu (10 acres) and the other at Kurukshetra in Uttar Pradesh -- are under construction and they too would be brought under the new project with necessary changes in the design and standards.

“If the project is finalised, some states are ready to come forward to allot land according to the TTD specifications,” said a senior TTD officer.

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TTD EO: hasten translation of ‘Astadasa Puranas’

TIRUPATI, February 25, 2015

TTD Executive Officer D. Sambasiva Rao on Tuesday urged the officials to expedite the translation works of 'Astadasa Puranas', which was taken up by the organisation with the aim of propagating the Hindu Sanatana Dharma.

Reviewing the ongoing works of the Puranetihasa Project, Mr. Rao opined that disseminating the information in the ancient literary texts to the public (in Telugu) would highlight and speak about the glory of Sanatana Dharma. Vishnu, Bhagavata, Garuda, Padma, Varaha, Vamana, Kurma, Brahma, Matsya, Brahmanda, Brahmavaivartha, Markandeya, Bhavisha, Siva, Linga, Skandha, Agni are the 18 Puranas scripted in Sanskrit, and consist of over 3,70,000 ‘slokas’.

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Tirupati to be spiritual capital

February 20,2015

Tirupati: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu declared that his government would develop Tirupati as the spiritual capital of the State. Speaking at a party workers meeting here on Thursday evening to celebrate TDP victory in the by-poll, Naidu said the pilgrim town along with Vizag and Vijayawda would be developed as smart cities in the State.

The record win in the Tirupati by-poll reaffirmed the people’s faith on his party and added to its strength. He said that the election proved that people would keep in their heart only those who strived for their welfare and added that the Congress was buried deep in the State. Thanking the people of the temple town for his party’s record win in the election, he was all praise for the newly elected TDP MLA M Suguanmma, the spouse of late Venkatarmana, whose demise caused the by-election.  

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu garlanding the statue of former MLA late late Venkatarmana in Tirupati on Thursday

“She is an efficient and capable person and she proved it with her thumping win in the election,’’ the Chief Minister said. On the occasion, Naidu felicitated 15 activists who performed well during the party campaign for the election. Forest and Environment minister Bojjala Gopalakrishna Reddy, in his address, said the Congress party, despite knowing well that it would face defeat, jumped in the fray deliberately to prevent TDP candidate getting elected without contest. 

He said that TDP was keen on protecting the sanctity and serenity of the temple town and also ensure its all round development. Earlier, Naidu, accompanied by Minister Gopalakrishna Reddy and senior leader G Mudhukrishnama Naidu, arrived at the venue of the meeting to a tumultuous welcome by local party leaders and activists. He paid floral tributes to late NT Rama Rao, M Venkatramana and also D Rama Naidu whose portraits were displayed at the venue. MP N Siva Praad, party MLAs and leaders from the district attended the meeting.

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Tirumala lock broken to ensure darshan for Sri Lankan president

Posted on February 18th, 2015

TIRUMALA: The authorities at the richest temple in the country nearly experienced a major embarrassmentwhen the lock of the golden door leading to the sanctum sanctorum of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala got stuck minutes before Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena and his wife reached for darshan early on Wednesday.

However, keeping in mind the VVIP visit, the temple officials broke open the lock with a saw and the Lankan president managed the darshan without any hitch. The lock was subsequently replaced and the darshan of the Lord by devotees went unhindered for the rest of the day.

Since the Suprabhatam Seva is performed at 3 am, the priests arrive about 45 minutes early, open the golden door and clean the premises. Three keys have to be inserted into the specially made lock at the same time to open the golden door. On Wednesday, the first key that was put into the lock got stuck and eventually broke.

The drama happened around 2.15 am when the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) priests arrived to open the ‘Bangaru Vakili’ (golden door), the last door that opens to the sanctum sanctorum, to perform the Suprabhatam Seva. ‘Suprabhatam’ is the first daily pre-dawn ritual performed to ‘wake up’ the Lord.

Since the Suprabhatam Seva is performed at 3 am, the priests arrive about 45 minutes early, open the golden door and clean the premises. Three keys have to be inserted into the specially made lock at the same time to open the golden door. On Wednesday, the first key that was put into the lock got stuck and eventually broke.

Sirisena and his wife Jayanthi Pushpa Kumari were already waiting for the doors to open for the Suprabhatam Seva to be performed. “The VIP couple were at the Mahadwaram before the Vaikuntam queue complex and only the Dwajastambham and Vendi Vakili (silver door) lay between them and the golden door, a distance of about 500 ft,” said a witness.

After the priests told the TTD officials accompanying the Lankan president that the lock was stuck, orders were issued for it to be forced open. A saw was then used to cut open the lock and the golden door was opened in time for the Suprabhatam Seva to be performed at 3 am.

“The lock on the golden door worked perfectly well when the priests closed it after the Ekantha Seva at midnight on Tuesday,” TTD deputy executive officer Chinnamgari Ramana told TOI. “However, in the morning, it got stuck and we had to break it open.”

The TTD authorities claimed the locks for the temple premises were specially made and it was the first time such a problem had been reported. “We’ll make sure that such kind of mechanical malfunctioning does not recur,” Ramana said. The temple authorities said there was no need for the performance of special prayers because of the episode.

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Tirumala to make pro-pilgrim services transparent: TTD EO

February 13, 2015

The TTD EO Dr D Sambasiva Rao called upon the senior officers to focus more in providing pro-pilgrim services including accommodation, darshan and laddu Prasadam in an enhanced way by adopting more technological mechanisms and in a transparent manner.

With the onset of summer vacations and anticipated pilgrims rush to the temple city and Tirumala shrine, the EO urged all the officials and HODs to complete all pending repairs, expansion etc in the cottages and guest houses on a war footing by second week of April. 

He also instructed the engineering and health officials to see that the drainage pipelines are set right and that entomologists be roped in to resolve the issue of bedbugs etc in the rooms besides making Tirumala garbage and disease free.

He placed on record as a welcome gesture that the innovative technology adaptation the middle men intervention in allotment of accommodation has enhanced transparency in administration.

Measures like continuous announcements on number of room vacancy level positions ever hour, the occupancy ratio has increased. He also instructed radio and broadcasting department to announce darshan hours to spread awareness and assist the pilgrims every hour.

The EO also reviewed on VQC compartments and also on the newly introduced additional two laddus issuing laddu Prasadam facility. He also inspected functioning of the amphi theater inside the VQC which has been hailed world around to keep the pilgrims happy and patient during their hours long wait in the queue lines.

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Sri Lankan President arrives in Tirumala

Press Trust of India | Tirupati 

February 17, 2015 

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena tonight arrived at nearby Tirumala amid tight security to offer worship at the famous hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara. 

Accompanied by wife Jayanthi Pushpa Kumari and officials, Sirisena arrived at the hills on a 12-hour pilgrimage, temple officials said. 

After overnight halt in a TTD Guest House, the Sri Lankan President would witness the daily sacred "suprabhatha" recitation ritual conducted inside the sanctum sanctorum of the ancient hill temple by priests in the wee hours tomorrow, temple Deputy Executive Officer Chinnamgari Ramana told PTI. 

Later, he would offer prayers to the presiding deity of Lord Venkateswara, he said. 

Sirisena, who is on a four-day visit to India, his first overseas trip after assuming office following his victory in the recent presidential election, was flown here by a special fight earlier in the evening. 

He flew in here after offering worship at the Mahabodhi Tree where Lord Buddha attained enlightenment in Bodh Gaya in Bihar.

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Swachch Tirumala campaign by Srivari Sevakulu

February 13, 2015 

The Srivari Sevakulu, the voluntary corps of TTD launched in 2000 has become an invisible strong arm and a dedicated work force of the TTD at the temple shrine of Lord Venkateswara in Tirumala.

In addition to their mandate to work on voluntary basis without any wages but only blessings of the sitting deity of Tirumala in all its 20 odd divisions, the Srivari Sevaks have now been asked to take up the task of keeping the hill shrine "Clean and Hygienic" says the TTD health officer Dr Venkatramana. 

Addressing about 1000 Srivari Sevakulu at Asthana Mandapam in Tirumala, the Health Officer advocated that keeping the Tirumala clean and hygienic is also the responsibility of every individual whether it is an employee or a local or a shopkeeper or Srivari seva volunteer or visiting pilgrim. 

Since you are in direct face with the pilgrims, you can be a better guide to them to properly use two bin system introduced by TTD for disposal of garbage in the temple hill shrine. The pilgrims have been advised to keep the organic wastes in Green bin and the in-organic materials like plastic, rubber, metal etc in Red bins placed at various places in Tirumala. Tirumala generated about five tones of garbage every day. 

Earlier, the Srivari Seva OSD and Assistant PRO Ms P Neelima led the Srivari Seva delegation in a meditation session. She also persuaded them to observe rigidly on the Dos and Don'ts and things that were also banned on Tirumala.

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Telangana CM to gift Haaram to Lord Balaji at Tirumala

HYDERABAD: Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao will present 'Salagrama Haaram,' a necklace made of a species of ammonite, to Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala, acording to sources in the Secretariat.

The state cabinet has recently approved the proposal to present the necklace, which would cost Rs 5 crore, to fulfil Rao's vow to present gifts to temples in Andhra, Rayalaseema and Telangana after achieving statehood for Telangana. The Salagrama Haram will be prepared under the supervision of IAS officer MG Gopal and guidance of government's adviser KV Ramanachary.

Apart from the present to Tirumala Venkateswara, the state government has decided to offer a golden crown to Goddess Bhadrakali at Bhadrakali temple in Warangal and golden moustache to Lord Veerabhadra Swamy at Kurvi, golden nose studs to Goddess Kanakadurga at Vijayawada and Goddess Padmavathi at Tiruchanur.

The government also wants to construct a facility for pilgrims to Ajmer dargah in Rajasthan state and efforts are on to fulfil the vow with the state government approaching its Rajasthan counterpart for land.

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A Parallel To Tirupati!

13-Feb-2015 

The TRS government is planning to send a delegation of officials to Tirumala soon to study the TTD style of functioning.

The objective is to replicate the same in Yadagirigutta of Telangana. KCR has vowed to create a Tirumala style of temple in Telangana also and has earmarked 2700 acres of land for Yadagirigutta temple.

While 1500 acres of it is government land, the rest has to be acquired from private parties and encroachers.

Reportedly, a deadline of one and a half years has been given to officials to make Yadagirigutta, a world class temple town.

There is absolutely no problem with developing any temple town but citing regional differences even in the development of temples is a sad reflection on the mindset of KCR!

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TTD EO calls for plan to execute various projects

TIRUPATI, February 10, 2015

Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Executive Officer D. Sambasiva Rao on Monday directed the heads of various projects to work in unison for propagation of ‘Venkateswara Vaibhavam’ through a detailed action plan and innovative programmes.

Interacting with the officials during a review meeting, Dr. Rao stressed the need for a yearly action plan to execute the ongoing activities in an effective manner.

He said a committee comprising senior officers would be constituted to take forward the activities in various projects such as Managudi, Sadacharam, Subhapradam and others in a fruitful manner.

Spiritual discourses

He directed the officials to invite seers and pontiffs of renowned religious organisations to deliver spiritual discourses, which would in turn be telecast on Sri Venkateswara Bhakti Channel (SVBC).

In addition, the Heads of Alwar Divya Prabandha and Annamacharya Projects were instructed to compose and tune new ‘keertanas’ of Annamacharya and Prabandha Pasuras.

TTD Joint Executive Officer (Tirupati) Pola Bhaskar, Project Heads and other officials took part.

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TTD sold 72.79 lakh laddu prasadam in Jan. 2015

February 07,2015

Tirumala, the abode of Lord Venkateswara in the month of January set new record of sorts in pilgrim visit, darsan, laddu sale, Anna Prasadam (free meals) and tonsuring.

Under the leadership of executive officer D Sambashiv Rao, the TTD has commenced a new practice to publicize the number of visitors to the famed Vaishnavite shrine at Tirumala. 

According to latest release by the TTD, 18,53,551 devotees had darshan including record number of 1.3 lakhs on January 1, which was a culmination of Vailkuntha ekadasi and New year in 2015. Number oF Pilgrims Who had anna prasadam were - 16,06,853 , 7,65,935 pilgrims were tonsured, 1,32,817 rooms were occupied, 307 Million liters of drinking water was consumed, 5,627 Volunteers Srivari sevaks rendered service and a whopping number of 72,79,587 (72.79 lakh) laddus were sold as prasadam. 

Although a religious institution managing the Vaishnavite temple in the hilly terrain of Tirumala, the TTD is also known for its social and philanthropic activities. It runs hospitals, schools, colleges, orphanages, home for the aged etc in and around Tirupati including a college at Delhi. The TTD also is custodian of huge gold reserves (30 tonnes of gold ornaments of Lord Venkateswara) donated through ages and also has an annual budget of Rs.2500 crore. 

TTD played a significant role in Hindu dharma prachara activities and during the YSR regime, it had organised the ambitious Kalyanamastu program providing for wedding cost of the poor. It has also taken up propagation of religion in Dalit wadas and tribal belt as an effort to contain religious conversion activities by others.

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Shortage of coconuts at TTD

DC CORRESPONDENT | February 08, 2015

TIRUPATI: Scarcity of coconuts is forcing devotees to fulfil their vow by lighting camphor at Tirumala. It is common for devotees to break coconuts and perform puja to the presiding deity Sri Venkateswar Swamy. Due to heavy rush of devotees in Tirumala, coconut consumption increased. The TTD is unable to supply coconuts on demand.

During January, about 18.5 lakh devotes visited Tirumala and performed pujas to Sri Venkateswara Swamy. The TTD is unable to supply coconuts to the devotees to meet the demand.

As a result, coconuts are not available at the TTD counters. The TTD is selling coconuts at Rs 10 in Tirumala for the convenience of devotees, whereas traders are selling at a higher price.

As soon as it will get coconut stocks, it will supply coconuts to devotees. When the TTD is not supplying coconuts at a higher price, depending on the size, they are selling coconuts upto Rs 20 each.

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TTD staves off major controversy

Adopting a stubborn stance the TTD management on Friday denied permission to the procession of palanquin by the Sai devotees atop the hill town and staved off a major controversy. The palanquin was used by the devotees to carry the ‘Padukas’ of Sai.

Over 1,200 Sai devotees from Shirdi in Maharastra endeavoured on the task of carrying the palanquin with the ‘padukas’ along the Aipiri footpath. In a quick reaction the TTDs Vigilance and Security sleuths took serious objection to their plans and however permitted them to move ahead leaving behind the ‘padukas’ at Tirupati. The devotees were also cautioned not to observe any kind of procession of Palanquin atop the town.

According to the TTD laws all kinds of processions except those relating to the hill temple of Lord Venkateswara are strictly prohibited atop Tirumala.

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Stone laid for ‘Veda Pathasala’

GUNTUR, February 4, 2015​

Andhra Pradesh Assembly Speaker Kodela Siva Prasada Rao on Tuesday laid the foundation stone for a ‘Veda Pathasala,’ on the hill shrine at Kotappakonda near Narsaraopet.

The vedic school would be constructed by TTD at a cost of Rs. 4.15 crore. Classes would begin from June, 2015, at TTD pilgrim house, Mr. Siva Prasada Rao said at Kotappakonda. Member of Parliament, Narsaraopet, Rayapati Sambasiva Rao and Joint Executive Officer, TTD, Kola Bhaskar, were present.

A ropeway would be built in the next couple of years and a deer park would be set up on the foot hills, he said. Two giant statues of Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu would also be erected atop the hill shrine with a cost of Rs.74 lakh.

The vedic school will be constructed by Tirumala Tirupathi Devastanam at a cost of Rs. 4.15 crore and classes will begin in June, says Assembly Speaker Kodela Siva Prasada Rao.

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Swine flu screening centres soon for Tirumala pilgrims

CHITTOOR, February 5, 2015

District Medical and Health Officer (DMHO) K. Koteswari has said steps will be taken to open a screening centre for Tirumala pilgrims in Tirupati in coordination with the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) in view of the swine flu threat in the State.

Dr. Koteswari added it was a matter of concern that thousands of pilgrims from across the globe converged at Tirupati and Tirumala. “The exercise requires manpower, including medical and paramedical staff. We are contemplating setting up the screening centre at Alipiri,” she said.

Once the centre is opened, medical officers will take steps to isolate people suspected of suffering from swine flu. Dr. Koteswari said at present the office of the DMHO had enough stock of Tamiflu capsules. “Each case of confirmed swine flu requires 110 capsules, including 10 for the patient and 100 for those who live with him. The government is prepared to supply capsules based on requirement. We will organise awareness camps across the district on measures to be taken to prevent the spread of flu,” the DMHO said.

On the swine flu ward at the General Hospital in Chittoor, Dr. Koteswari said steps would be taken to shift the ward to an isolated area.

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TTD to get jewellery worth Rs 5 crore

DC CORRESPONDENT | January 31, 2015

Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrasekar Rao said he would personally visit Tirumala and offer Rs 5 crore worth golden   ornaments to Lord Venkateswara. This apart, nose rings would be offered to Goddess Padmavathi in Tiruchanur and Goddess Durga in Vijayawada. He also said he would pray at the Ajmer Sharif dargah and offer Rs 2.50 lakh-worth chaddar. 

The Chief Minister promised to construct a Rs 5 crore guesthouse in Ajmer for Telangana pilgrims to provide accommodation free of cost. He will soon talk to the Rajasthan government for allotment of land. 

Mr Rao will also visit Goddess Bhadrakali in Warangal and offer a golden crown apart from the Kurivi Veerabhadreswara Swamy temple to offer golden mustaches.

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TTD sets out to prune VIP devotees

 Sribala Vadlapatla, TNN | Jan 29, 2015

TIRUMALA: The Andhra Pradesh endowments department has claimed that the darshan allowed on the basis of VIP recommendation letters at the Tirumala temple has been greatly reduced. In all, the number of devotees availing the VIP break darshan per day has come down from about 5,000 to 1,000, said endowments minister P Manikyala Rao.

"We want to reduce the number of devotees availing the darshan with the help of VIP recommendation letters. Towards that end, we have increased the quota of the Rs 300 online tickets from 18,000 to 20,000 per day.The TTD board permitting, we want to completely do away with the darshan managed through the VIP recommendation letters," the minister told TOI. 

Though a maximum of 1,200 persons are supposed to be granted VIP break darshan twice daily, their number goes up to 3,0004,000 a day because of the recommendation letters brought by the devotees.And during the VIP break darshan, which in these cases extends up to about four hours, the general darshan is suspended. For every one hour of VIP break darshan, about 5,000 common devotees are denied darshan. 

Keeping all this in mind, the TDP government is attempting to streamline the VIP darshan system, a tough task considering that minis ters, elected representatives, members of the judiciary and bureaucrats, among others, insist on a quick darshan that is possible only through the VIP route. 

The norms of the TTD specify that the VIP darshan can be accorded to MPsMLAsministers chief ministersgovernors judges of AP high courtdistrict judges and IAS officers of the AP cadre. Apart from these, film personalities, industrialists, corporate honchos and sportspersons as well as those who donate more than Rs 1 crore to the temple are also treated as VIPs. According to TTD sources, what compounds the problem is the fact that the VIPs are accompanied by several people. 

The demands to prune the entire VIP list to 1,500 and do away with the discretionary VIP quota increased after the TTD faced massive public outcry over the increased VIP darshan during the tenure of Kanumuri Bapiraju as chairman. The endowments minister may have made a beginning, but it remains to be seen whether he would be able to get rid of the VIP break darshan altogether. 

YSR Congress hits out at TTD over heritage outlet at Tirumala 

The YSR Congress on Wednesday charged that the TDP government and TTD specified authority have sanctioned the opening of a Heritage Foods outlet at Tirumala. Addressing the media, YSR Congress Chandragiri MLA Chevireddy Bhaskar Reddy said, "The TDP government gave sanction for setting up a Heritage Foods parlour at Tirumala and the same came up about a month ago. This is a blatant misuse of power as it is well known that Heritage is owned by the Chandrababu Naidu family.Moreover, Heritage has several egg-based items and the same is being sold in violation of rules," he said. However, TTD sources said the Heritage milk parlour was one among many milk outlets at the shrine and that there was no question of eggbased items being sold there.

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Tirupati Book Festival off to a grand start

TIRUPATI, February 1, 2015​

Books are taken in a palanquin to mark the inaugural of the Tirupati Book Festival on Saturday.

The temple city of Tirupati has witnessed several pageants in the past like the procession of deities, motorcade of political parties during road shows or demonstrations by working classes, but this one surely was different.

The procession of books from Mahati Auditorium to Sri Venkateswara High School Grounds marked the beginning of the ninth Tirupati Book Festival organised by the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s Tirupati Kendra on Saturday. It gave an altogether new dimension to the way books are viewed: they were equated to something divine and a must-possess. Religious and spiritual books including Srimad Bhagavatham and Sri Venkateswara Mahatmyam, along with a portrait of goddess Saraswati, were carried on a flower-bedecked palanquin by book enthusiasts to the venue, where Collector Siddharth Jain inaugurated the nine-day event.

The sprawling ground has over 87 stalls.

Religious and spiritual books including Srimad Bhagavatham and Sri Venkateswara Mahatmyam, along with a portrait of Goddess Saraswati, were carried on a flower-bedecked palanquin by book enthusiasts including Bhavan’s Director N. Satyanarayana Raju to the venue.
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Tirupati police to install CCTVs all over the city

Hyderabad, Jan 28 (INN): In order to turn Tirupati into a safe city, Rayalaseema Inspector General V.V. Gopala Krishna took up the installation of 184 CCTV cameras and new traffic signals, covering the entire city, under the Mission 'Safe City ' Tirupati.'

Under this Mission, which is the brainchild of the IG, a state-of-the-art Comman and Control Centre has been set up to keep a check on crimes, thefts, traffic violations, etc.

The cameras have been installed at 35 major locations with a cost of Rs 2.5 crore. An additional 600 cameras will be installed in the next phase. Meanwhile, new traffic signals have been erected at 18 locations in the city with a cost of Rs 1 crore.

The city police also created an 'i-Follow' Awareness campaign to create awareness on following traffic rules and reporting cases of violations, thefts, crimes, if any.

In order to be available to people, the Tirupati Police also launched a Facebook Page to take complaints and feedback from citizens. They will also be available on 'Whatsapp' on 8099999977 where citizens can report on violations or crimes.

In a first, they have also issuted driver/owner recognition cards to all the Autorickshaw drivers in the city to trace them.

Further, the city cops are also open to accepting complaints if auto/taxi drivers overcharge customers. They have been able to bring in transparency in auto fares.

The city police will also connect the surveillance cameras in bus stations, railway stations and at TTD complex with the Command and Control Centre.

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