Start today, visit tomorrow!!

Tirupati, June 03: Heavy crowds continue to visit the temple of Lord Venkateswara. Despite the summer vacation entering its final stages, there seems no respite for the town which has been wobbling under the impact of visiting crowds for the fourth week in a row.

More than one-third of the pilgrims preferred reaching the town along the two trekking routes on Saturday, as the day is widely believed to be very auspicious for the presiding deity.

While the devotees who had booked their online darshan tickets a couple of months in advance were forced to spend three to four hours in the darshan lines, the waiting hours for those without any tokens in the dharma darshanam queue lines stretched beyond 26 hours. Many pilgrims were also forced to spend long waiting hours in securing accommodation.

The staff at the massive Nitya Annadanam Complex managed to feed a major chunk of the pilgrim crowd while efficiently handling the supply of free food packets to all those waiting in the darshan lines.