Tirumala, 16 Sep 2012(P.R.O) : The
world famous pilgrim town of Tirumala has geared up to celebrate the
nine-day mega religious event of annual salakatla brahmotsavams of Lord
Venakteswara which are scheduled to take place from 18th September to
26th September said TTD EO Sri LV Subramanyam.
Addressing the media persons
over the elaborate arrangements made by TTD for annual brahmotsavams the
EO said, the Hon'ble CM of AP will present silk vastrams to Lord
Venkateswara on behalf of the State Government on the first day of
Brahmotsavams which commences with Dhwajarohanam on September 18. "The
CM will also lay foundation stone to second phase of Tiruvenkatapatham
Ring road at Tirumala mulled at an estimated cost of Rs.11cr. Similarly
he will also lay foundation stone to "Sri Vakulamatha" rest house which
is coming up adjacent to Nandakam Guest House with an estimated cost of
Rs.25cr", he added.
Sri Subramanyam said TTD is
planning to bring out Old Annaprasadam Complex for the utility of
general pilgrims during Navarathri Brahmotsavams which are slated to
start from October 15 to October 23. "We have constructed 116 Bath Rooms
and 55 toilets for the sake of visiting pilgrims. This will be very
useful to those pilgrims who come up with less baggage. Apart from this
we are also planning to operate centralised cellphone and luggage
keeping centre from this point and also to open up some laddu issuing
counters so as to de-congest the pilgrim crowd near laddu counters", he
added.
Meanwhile the EO TTD will
release a series of spiritual books, pamphlets on ancient coins.
inscriptions, sacred teerthams during brahmotsavams. "CM will release
all these books at the Nada Neerajana Mandapam", he said.
Elaborating further on other
arrangements the EO said, the RTC will run 3000 trips per day during
brahmtosavams. "They will operate bus services every minute as in the
case of last year. This year also we have put total ban on two-wheelers
on Garuda Seva Day", EO maintained.
"Thousands of bhajan mandalis
will be taking part in this brahmotsavams showcasing their artistic
skills in different guises. We are also expecting musical concerts by
our Asthana Vidhwans Sri Nedanuri Krishnamurthy and Dr Managalampalli
Balamurali Krishna. This year also we have grands plans for a colourful
expo by garden, ayurveda, photo and museum departments to attract
pilgrims".
"On the security front, our
vigilance and government police personnel have geared up to
give full-fledged security cover. We are holding a buffer stock of
4lakhs laddus during brahmotsavams. The medical department has also
taken up extra-measures in the case of any emergency situation", the EO
said.
Later Tirumala JEO Sri KS
Srinivasa Raju said, TTD has cancelled all arjitha sevas during
brahmotsavams. "Even we have cancelled Rs.50 on Dhwajarohanam and Garuda
Seva day. Even the issuance of Rs.300 tickets also depends upon the
pilgrim crowd during brahmotsavams. The prime focus is on darshan to
common pilgrims which commences from 6am till the end of the day every
day. Even there are no VIP darshans on the evenings of 18th, 21st, 22nd,
23rd and 26th of September.
