Pilgrims who were visiting the Venkateswara temple in Tirumala were shocked to find a 10-foot long python coiled around the branch of a tree near the guest house area in the hills, on Saturday evening. The snake remained entwined around the branch for a few hours, before it was removed and released back into the forest.
The python was spotted on a tree above a generator machine near the SNC (Seshadri Nagar Cottages) area, close to the Sanku Mitta cottages, according to TTD (Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams) Tirumala Forest Range Officer Prabhakar Reddy.
Bhaskar Naidu, a snake catcher employed with the TTD, was roped in to bring the python down from the tree with the help of a crane. Scores of people watched on with nervous excitement as the python, which remained still on the branch, was prodded till it uncoiled and fell down onto the ground. As the snake tried to slither away past the crowd, the snake catcher trapped it in a bag temporarily, before releasing it back into the forest the same day.
According to FRO Prabhakar Reddy, the area where the snake was spotted was usually teeming with pilgrims. Bhaskar Naidu, who was part of the team that removed the snake, said, “It was 10 feet long, and is quite dangerous. However, no one has been hurt,” he said.
Traffic came to a standstill for a brief period in the evening, as onlookers gathered around the tree, taking photos and videos as the snake catchers did their job.
The Tirumala temple, which had remained closed for nearly 80 days due to the lockdown, was reopened for devotees on June 11. While the temple earlier saw footfalls of more than 50,000 devotees on a daily basis, it has now restricted the maximum number of darshan tickets issued per day to 12,000.
Watch: 10-ft python coiled around tree brought down using a crane in Tirumala