Thousands of devotees visit the Kaliyuga deity, Tirumala Venkateswara Swamy, every day. TTD offers many services for devotees coming from all over the country and abroad. In this context, they have recently taken another key decision.

 

TTD (Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams) has taken a key decision for the convenience of devotees in Tirumala. From now on, APSRTC buses will run free of charge in Tirumala. Devotees can travel from one place to another on these buses without any charge. TTD Additional EO Venkayya Chowdary officially launched these services. This will make it easier for devotees to travel within Tirumala. There have been several complaints that private vehicles in Tirumala have been charging exorbitant fares from devotees. In addition, these vehicles are also increasing air pollution. To address these issues, TTD has introduced free APSRTC bus services. This will eliminate the need for devotees to rely on private vehicles. Currently, about 300 trips are being operated daily through the Srivari Dharma Rathams run by TTD in Tirumala. With the addition of APSRTC buses, there is now a possibility of running an additional 80 trips per day. These buses are scheduled to run every two minutes. The increased frequency of buses will reduce congestion for devotees. These free buses will ply in various areas of Tirumala and smoothly transport devotees to Tirupati. Devotees can board APSRTC buses from nearby areas without having to go to the bus stand specifically. Charges will be collected only for Tirupati, regardless of where in Tirumala devotees board. Bus travel within Tirumala is completely free. TTD has announced that there are no additional charges. Due to the weekend, the rush of devotees in Tirumala has increased. Free Sarvadarshan queues extended up to Silathoranam. Currently, it takes about 24 hours for free darshan. Time slot (SSD) darshan takes 7 hours, and Rs.300 special entry darshan takes 6 hours. On Saturday alone, the number of devotees who had darshan of Swami in Tirumala was recorded as 90,087. On the same day, 41,891 devotees offered their hair. The income through Hundi was Rs. 4.30 crores.