2021 was a difficult phase for the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) which reeled under the impact of COVID-19 pandemic for the second consecutive year.
The hope of revival of economic resources faded with the second wave of pandemic hitting in April.
There was a drastic decline in the footfall and a sharp fall in hundi collections, the main source of income for the TTD.
The daily issuance of sarva darshan tokens were slashed from 30,000 to 15,000 in the last week of March and on April 12, a total ban was imposed on their issuance. Similar was the case with the online special entry darshan tickets which were restricted to a meagre 5,000 per day till August after which it was slightly enhanced to 8,000 a day. Restrictions were also imposed on trekking routes and services of Srivari sevaks were temporarily discontinued. The decision to allow devotees to take part in the arjitha sevas in limited numbers from Ugadi was deferred indefinitely.
The restrictions in permitting devotees for darshan of Lord Venkateswara had an adverse effect on temple hundi. The hundi income plunged to ₹62.62 crore in April from ₹105 crore the previous month.
However, the decision to enhance the number of pilgrims for the darshan from the last week of September and opening of the footpath routes led to a gradual increase in the hundi income, currently put between ₹75 crore and 80 crore.
The limiting of the budget estimates to ₹2,937.82 crore for the current financial year as against ₹3,309 crore in 2020-21 speaks about the impact of the pandemic on the TTD revenues.
Meanwhile, torrential rains in mid-November that battered the hill temple compounded the woes of the TTD. Due to the intensity of the problem caused by the cloud burst, ghat roads and footpath routes had to be closed and the devotees were requested to defer their pilgrimage. The roads leading to Papavinasam, Akasa Ganga and Dharmagiri were also closed. Ghat roads saw landslips and uprooting of trees, while extensive damages were reported on the Srivari Mettu footpath.
The second ghat road also suffered heavy damages at more than half a dozen points while a considerable stretch of the footpath caved in on the first ghat road. Experts from IIT Delhi, Chennai and Amrita Viswa Vidyapeetam in Kerala were commissioned to inspect the damaged sites and suggest means to fast track the restoration works and avoid recurrence of such incidents. As an intermediary measure, vehicular traffic is diverted onto the link road connecting both the ghat roads.
The TTD was also in the news when the Andhra Pradesh High Court suspended two GOs facilitating the nomination of 52 members as special invitees in the newly constituted trust board in September.
Despite all the upheavals, the TTD took several affirmative decisions such as construction of an exclusive paediatric hospital in Tirupati at a cost of ₹300 crore, espousing embryo technology to enhance milk production at its dairy farm, declaration of Anjanadri Hills as the original birth place of Lord Hanuman, construction of Sri Venkateswara temple in Jammu, manufacturing of agarbattis from cow products, introduction of Navaneeta seva, signing of MoU with YSR horticulture varsity in the dry flower technology, Dhana prasadam, Sundarakanda and Yuddhakanda parayanams besides gold plating of the Tirumala temple Mahadwaram.
Published - December 20, 2021 01:12 am IST
