Minor stampede at Tirupati's Tirumala Venkateswara Temple

The incident happened at the Sarvadarshan ticket counter where tokens for darshan were being issued. 

A minor stampede was reported at Tirupati's Tirumala Venkateswara Temple in Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday. The incident happened at the Sarvadarshan ticket counter where tokens for darshan were being issued. 

Local reports said that three pilgrims received minor injuries. The injured devotees were shifted to the government hospital for treatment. 

The Sri Venkateswara Swami Vaari Temple or Tirupati Balaji Temple is one of the most revered temples in the country. Situated in the hill town of Tirumala in the Tirupati district of Andhra Pradesh, the temple receives thousands of devotees on a daily basis. The Temple is dedicated to Venkateswara, an avatar of Vishnu, who, according to mythology, saved mankind from the perils of Kali Yuga. 

According to reports, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams governing body officials had stopped giving away free tokens for darshan since the last two days. In line with Covid guidelines, the TTD has capped daily pilgrims and also allowed only pilgrims with valid tickets to enter Tirumala. Because of this, a large number of devotees stayed back in Tirumala. 

On Tuesday, a large crowd gathered at counters that issue sarvadarshanam tokens (free darshan). The counters of Srinivasam and Bhudevi complexes and Govindaraja choultry were opened for issuing free darshan tokens after a gap of two days. 

Thousands of devotees thronged to get the tickets and TTD vigilance personnel failed in controlling the situation. The queue lines were damaged and a minor stampede happened. Keeping in view the heavy pilgrim inflow, TTD has cancelled the VIP darshan and asked devotees to directly come to Tirumala and have a darshan of the deity. Pilgrims planning to have sarvadarshan have also been told to come prepared to stay two to three days in Tirupati.