The Navaratri Brahmotsavam of Lord Venkateswara hill temple, scheduled to begin on October 7 at Tirumala, will be conducted without the participation of devotees due to the anticipated third wave of COVID-19, said a top functionary of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) that governs the hill temple. Speaking to reporters, TTD Board Chairman Y V Subba Reddy said that like last year's festival, this year's Navaratri Brahmotsavam also would be observed inside the temple without the congregation of the devotees and celestial processions in view of the health safety of devotees and TTD staff.
The decision was taken in adherence to new COVID-19 guidelines issued by the Central and state Governments in view of the possibility of a third-wave of coronavirus that is likely to hit in October, he added.
However, the ceiling on the entry of devotees for darshan of Lord Venkateswara would continue as usual during Brahmotsavam too, Reddy said. Between 15,000 to 20,000 people would be allowed into the shrine until the pandemic situation returns to normalcy, Reddy added.
The Chairman said due to technical snags the online issue of SSD (Time Slotted Sarva Darshan) tokens being issued for the darshanam of Lord Venkateswara is being delayed, and after rectifying the problem, the SSD tokens will soon be issued online. The TTD recently said that the SSD tokens are presently available only for the residents of Chittoor.
On Friday evening, special pujas were held in the temple observing the COVID-19 protocols. The special puja was conducted without the attendance of devotees.
According to the TTD, a total of 25,821 pilgrims had visited the temple on Thursday, and the temple had donations of Rs 2.13 crore.
Meanwhile, a TTD release said that a US-based devotee, Poosala Viswanath working with Facebook has made an offering of Rs 1 crore to the temple with a request to TTD to utilise the fund for TTD-run charitable institutions. His father P Anjaneyulu, a retired TTD official, handed over the Demand Draft for the amount to TTD Executive Officer K S Jawahar Reddy.