Travelling to Tirupati an uphill task for devotees from Karnataka  

The TTD information office in Vyalikaval near Malleswaram was a place where many devotees were getting tickets a few years ago, but even there the facility does not exist any more. Private tour operators had cancelled their special Tirupati packages a few months ago.

Going to Tirupati Tirumala in Andhra Pradesh is an annual or even a monthly ritual for many people from Karnataka. Being only around 250 kilometres away from Bengaluru, many take up overnight journeys to visit the temple. The Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation (KSTDC) was one of the operators that was providing a package to Tirupati. 

Owing to the huge crowd in the temple, devotees visiting the temple were usually relying on tour operators or private agents to secure their tickets for special darshan. The most reliable one among them was KSTDC, which was offering an overnight package to Tirupati with special darshan tickets.

However, this package has been stopped after the tragic incident in Tirupati on January 8 in which six persons died and over 20 were injured as they jostled for tickets during Vaikunta Ekadashi festival (January 10). 

“The tickets that we were being given by Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanams (TTD) for our tourists have been stopped after the recent incident. The authorities told us that further decisions will be taken after some issues related to crowds are resolved. Hence, we have stopped our Tirupati package,” said a source in KSTDC. 

Private tour operators had cancelled their special Tirupati packages a few months ago.

“Around six months ago, we stopped our special darshan package as it is not possible to curate such services any more due to crowd control measures that are being taken by TTD and the government there. We only offer transport for Dharma Darshana (normal queue) now,” said an employee at Balaji Tours and Travels in Bengaluru.  

The TTD information office in Vyalikaval near Malleswaram was a place where many devotees were getting tickets a few years ago, but even there the facility does not exist any more.