The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), an autonomous trust which manages the country’s richest temple in Andhra Pradesh, has, over decades, mastered the art of crowd management.
The TTD is known for meticulous planning and flawless execution of all the systems that ensures a hassle-free darshan at the Lord Venkateswara temple, accommodation and transport facilities for hundreds of thousands of people visiting the hill shrine.
The temple body’s expertise in crowd management is now set to come in handy for the Ram Temple Trust in Ayodhya which has been witnessing a huge rush of devotees since the ‘pran pratishtha’ ceremony of Ram Lalla on January 22. Since then, over seven million pilgrims have visited the temple, raising concerns over managing crowds.
The Ayodhya authorities are unable to handle the surging crowd of pilgrims coming in from various parts of the country.
On February 17, a delegation of officials from TTD visited Ayodhya on an invitation from Sri Rama Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust to explain how crowds are managed at Tirumala.
The TTD has been a pioneer in this area, adopting technologies such as barcodes early to streamline the flow of devotees. On an average, nearly 65,000-70,000 people visit the Tirumala temple daily, with crowds peaking at around one lakh on some auspicious days like annual Brahmotsavams.
TTD executive officer AV Dharma Reddy, TTD technical advisor G Ramachandra Reddy, superintending engineer Jagadeeshwar Reddy and deputy executive engineers Babu and Nagaraj, took part in the deliberations with Ayodhya trust representatives Dr Anil Mishra, G Gopal, Jagadish Offley, Girish Sahasra Bhojani and Raghavulu, besides national secretary of Vishwa Hindu Parishad DSN Murthy on February 17.
“The TTD delegation gave a presentation to the Ayodhya trust authorities on the regulation of crowds and management of queue lines. It sought the advice of the TTD experts on the arrangements to be made to provide a satisfactory darshan to the devotees coming to the temple of Lord Ram,” a TTD official said.
He said that TTD submitted a comprehensive report to the Ayodhya temple trust on management of queue lines and facilities to be provided to the pilgrims. “The report is under the examination of the trust,” the official added.
TTD authorities have explained to the Ayodhya temple trust that since the temple city is fast turning into a global pilgrim centre and a spiritual tourist destination, the footfall will increase sharply. “Unless a proper crowd management system is in place, it is going to be very difficult in the coming days,” the TTD official said.
Elaborating on the crowd management systems on Tirumala, TTD chief vigilance and security officer (CVSO) D Narasimha Kishore said 95% of the devotees coming to Tirumala are repeat visitors, which means they know the drill. To ensure a special darshan quickly, TTD makes tickets available online at least two months in advance, so that devotees can come at a specific date and time to have darshan, which they can complete within two to three hours.
For general pilgrims wishing to have “sarva darshan” (free darshan), TTD uses wristbands with a specific time mentioned on it. “They arrive at the queue complexes meant for them at the allotted time and get darshan within two hours,” Kishore explained.
There are special darshan timings for VIP devotees, and also those who donate money for the construction of temples.
Tirumala has built elaborate queue complexes, where the pilgrims can wait and then proceed into the temple in an orderly way. Food, water, and toilet facilities are available at these.
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