The Karnataka government will soon build a massive pilgrim amenities complex and marriage hall at Tirumala, the hill abode of lord Venkateswara, at an estimated cost of Rs 200 crore, a temple official said on Saturday.
The state government will submit a blueprint for the construction of the Rs 200 crore complexes to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) that governs the hill shrine. Based on the designs, TTD will construct the complexes with the given fund and on completion, hand it over to the Karnataka government, the temple official said.
This comes after the Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh state governments recently entered into an agreement. TTD Chairman YV Subba Reddy, Executive Office of TTD Anil Kumar Singhal and Additional EO AV Dharma Reddy had met Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa in Bengaluru on Friday.
The modern pilgrim amenities complex will be constructed on a 7.5-acre plot, the Deccan Herald reported. According to TTD, the plot was leased to Karnataka in 2008 for a 50-year period. It was also decided that 1.94 acres on West Mada Street would be left vacant “keeping in view the necessities of pilgrims during Brahmotsavams and other days”.
Karnataka CM Yediyurappa will lay the foundation stone for the complexes on the hills next month, he said. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is likely to take part in the programme, the temple official added.
Officials said that this resolves a long-pending issue of developing choultries (resting place) for Karnataka pilgrims at the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams. TTD Chairman YV Subba Reddy told the Times of India that the issue was amicably resolved following meetings between BS Yediyurappa and Jagan Mohan Reddy.
A large number of devotees from Karnataka make go to Tirupati, which is 250 km from Bengaluru.