Holiday Rush: Tirumala Temple Nets Rs 3.9 Crore In A Single Day

Tirupati: The Tirumala temple netted Rs 3.9 crore in a single day as hundi collection on Saturday.

Temple officials attributed the sudden surge in hundi collections to consecutive holidays of Janmashtami and Independence Day coupled with a weekend. The temple town of Tirupati witnessed an increase of pilgrim-inflow from Friday night itself with the Tirupati bus stand and railway station reporting increased footfall. The Alipiri pathway from where the devout begin their trek on foot to the sacred hills saw over 50,000 people taking the route on Saturday. The number is the highest for trekking route recorded in recent times. Interestingly, Saturday also saw a record number of 95,000 devotees having a darshan of the presiding deity.

Officials of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) said that the number of pilgrims is bound to increase when data for Sunday and Monday also come-in. Meanwhile, officials of the TTD Vigilance department deployed additional personnel at all strategic points to manage the surging crowds. Security checks at Alipiri were also intensified.