Tirumala gears up for nine-day Sri T.T.Brahmotsavams

Tirupati , Sep 26 :

With only one day left for the initiation of the nine-day annual Brahmotsavams of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) is fully geared up for the mega event.

The temple administration has made extensive decoration and illumination works atop the hill abode, with welcome arches and images of Lord Vishnu and some important deities of Hindu mythology.

Officials of the garden wing are going to arrange an exclusive exhibition with flowers, fruits and vegetables, displaying the images of various gods in the sprawling area in front of S.V. Museum.

Tirupati urban SP, Mr J. Prabhakar Rao, is monitoring security arrangements.

Two additional SPs, 16 DSPs, 60 circle inspectors, 150 sub-inspectors, 300 head constables, over 1,000 constables and 600 women police, 800 home guards, a dozen special parties, reserve forces and greyhounds will be deployed at all vital locations.

In all, 15 outposts were arranged TTD authorities in coordination with the APSRTC made special arrangements for the smooth flow of traffic on the serpentine ghat roads.

The TTD has already issued instructions prohibiting two-wheelers on the ghat roads on this particular day.

Barricades and queue lines are set up along the four mada streets of the temple, to facilitate thousands of devotees to have a glimpse of the celestial vahanams during their processions.

Bicycle Hubs at Tirumala for pilgrims

Tirumala , Sep 26 :

The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams is starting ‘bicycle hubs' at various points on Tirumala in a phased manner for commuting by pilgrims from one place to another on the hill.

Pilgrims can pedal from from one place to another, and leave the vehicle at the nearest hub.

It plans to purchase 200 or 400 cycles and keep them at three or four ideal locations, allowing pilgrims to commute one place to another place and leave the cycle in that area hub.

As part of the plan, two dozen bicycles were purchased and brought to Tirumala on Monday.

District collector Solomon Arogyaraj and TTD joint executive officer KS Srinivasa Raju distributed the cycles to Tirupati Urban J Prabhakar Rao, Tirumala deputy superintendent of police Umamaheswara Sarma and some other policemen.

Chief vigilance and security officer MK Singh, additional VGO Shivakumar Reddy, superintendent engineer Ramesh Reddy and others went cycling from the GNC tollgate to the temple.

Srinivasa Raju said Tirumala was facing an increasing threat of pollution with tens of thousand of vehicles being operated every day round the clock.

“The TTD is taking steps to protect the environment and this is the first time it has banned two-wheelers to Tirumala on the Garuda Seva day, the fifth day of the annual Srivari Brahmotsavams, which attracts lakhs of people.

We also imposed total ban on vehicular movement, particularly private jeeps and taxis, on the hill,'' he said.

"Premier educational institutions use cycles for internal transport and in several other developed countries bicycles are used more for commuting short distances," the JEO explained.

The TTD move has surprised local people who said till now the TTD had cracked whip on those bringing bicycles for their children and even registered cases against them

ANNUAL PAVITHROTSAVAM IN SRI PADMAVATHI AMMAVARI TEMPLE

ANNUAL PAVITHROTSAVAM IN SRI PADMAVATHI AMMAVARI TEMPLE

Tiruchanur, 11 Sep 2011(P.R.O) On the second day of Annual Pavithrotsavam in Sri Padmavathi Ammavari Temple, Pavithras, the garlands made from special thread were taken in a procession and used to decorate Goddess Padmavathi inside The Temple on Sunday.

Sri K.Bapi Raju, Chairman TTDs, Sri K.S.Srinivasa Raju, Joint Executive Officer, Sri Gopalakrishna, DyEO(PAT), Sri Venugopal, AEO, Temple staff and others were present.

The Important Days of Brahmotsavams (2011)

The Important Days of Brahmotsavams (2011)
29-09-2011 Thursday Dhwajarohanam
03-10-2011 Monday Garudotsavam
04-10-2011 Tuesday Golden Chariot
06-10-2011 Thursday Rathotsavam
07-10-2011 Friday Chakrasnanam and Dhwaja Avarohanam

Note:

1.Advance Booking of Accommodation is cancelled during Annual Brahmotsavam period (29-09-2011 to 07-10-2011)

2.Regular quota of Sudarshanam is reduced to 50% during Annual Brahmotsavam Period.

TTD to focus on pilgrim accommodation

Tirumala , Sep01 :

The new board of trustees of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, at its maiden meeting held here on Saturday, resolved to increase the accommodation for pilgrims visiting the hill shrine and to revive the TV studio in Hyderabad.

The meeting, presided over by board chairman Kanumuri Bapiraju, placed on record its deep appreciation of the efforts and decisions of the Specified Authority which the board replaced. The board spent time getting a grasp of issues concerning the administration and needs of devotees.

Talking with reporters after the meeting, Bapiraju, who looked different without his trademark mustache, said they were very appreciative of the work done by Specified Authority.

Our main focus will be on improving the accommodation for the visiting pilgrims. The TTD has already started renovating two blocks of guest houses and the pilgrim amenities complex on Tirumala, and there are six more such blocks needing renovation.

We want to approach firms of international standards for taking up the renovation work on `no-profit, no-loss’ basis, and complete it by the end of the current year,’’ he said.

Necessary arrangements are being made for the annual Brahmotsavams commencing towards the end of this month and the board decided to bring out TTD diaries and calendars earlier than it used to be done in the past.

Nearly half of the calendars and diaries would be released during the Brahmotsavams, he said.

Assuring that the board would work as cohesive unit, he said it would take any criticisim of it in sportive spirit and make an introspection to work in a transparent manner.

Executive officer and member-secretary LV Subrahmanyam, briefing the media on the board’s decisions, said the board decided to print 10 lakh calendars and four lakh diaries, and release half of them on September 29.

“The board appreciated the good work done by the disbanded specified authority.

It also lauded the recruitment procedure adopted recently and decided to seek legal opinion for recruitment of 210 security guards in TTD with Intermediate-qualified youth from Chittoor district.’’

The board also resolved to appoint a committee, with a board member on it, for Sri Venkateswara Bhakti Channel (SVBC), the broadcasting arm of the TTD.

It also decided to restart the SVBC studio in Hyderabad in collaboration with Mana TV.

``The needed technical arrangements are being made.

The studio will help us bring out feature programmes.

The studio is being started in Hyderabad again to enable actors and experts to participate in the programmes,’’ Subrahmanyam said.

The SVBC studio in Hyderabad was wound up when the channel’s headquarters was shifted from Hyderabad to Tirupati nearly two years ago.

By another decision the board sought a detailed report on the educational and health institutions being run by the TTD to be presented at the next board meeting.

``The board sought the report to study and make necessary suggestions for improving the institutions and make them centres of excellence,’’ the EO explained.

Board members C Mutyam Reddy, R Suryaprakasa Rao and P Rajeswari Devi, endowment commissioner J Balaramaiah, principal secretary, revenue (endowments) KV Ramanachary and TTD JEO KS Srinivasa Raju were also present.