The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) that governs the Sri Venkateswara temple atop Tirumala in Andhra Pradesh, has decided to offer Rs 19 crore to help the state government tide over the COVID-19 pandemic.
TTD Executive Officer (EO) Anil Kumar Singal said that the TTD had already given an amount of Rs 8 crore to government officials of Chittoor district and the remaining Rs 11 crore would soon be handed over to them, to fight the coronavirus.
"Besides providing 50,000 food packets daily to support homeless people during lockdown in Tirupati rural and urban areas, TTD has allotted its rest houses as shelter to these people during the ongoing lockdown period," Anil Kumar Singhal said.
He said there was no lapse in the conduct of daily rituals at Lord Venkateswara temple on the Tirumala hills, since the nationwide lockdown was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The EO also appealed to devotees against believing certain fake reports appearing in social media about the activities of the temple.
"Srivari temple has not been shut down as baselessly rumoured in social media but all daily rituals from Suprabhatam to Ekantha Seva are being conducted under the guidance and supervision of the archakas, as per agama traditions," he said.
He added that all activities of the Srivari temple are also being live telecasted by SVBC (Sri Venkateswara Bhakthi Channel) for devotees across the world.
Andhra Pradesh reported 26 new cases on Sunday evening, taking the state's tally of COVID-19 cases to 252. Chittoor district, where the temple is located, has reported 17 cases so far.
The state saw a spurt in COVID-19 cases after March 20, when large numbers of people who had attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation at Delhi, between March 15-17, began returning to their homes.
The state government has also placed the residential locations of people testing positive for coronavirus, on a 'red alert' list, to enable greater monitoring and to also ensure that such areas are quarantined properly.