Tirupati Temple Stampede News: Six people were killed in a stampede in Tirupati while waiting to collect tokens for the darshan of Lord Venkateswara, on Wednesday (January 8). Thousands had gathered to collect the tokens, due to the Vaikunta Ekadasi festival. What is the Vaikuntha Ekadasi festival at Tirumala? Vaikuntha Ekadasi falls in the second week of January. Taking the blessings of Lord Vishnu, who is in the form of Lord Venkateshwara at the Tirumala temple, on this day is considered specially auspicious. Earlier, this festival was observed for only one day, but as the number of pilgrims increased, it has been made into a 10-day festival. The Sri Venkateswara Swami Temple at Tirumala has a special entrance known as Vaikuntha Dwara near the sanctum sanctorum, opened only on Vaikuntha Ekadasi. It is believed that anyone who passes through the Vaikuntha Dwara on Vaikuntha Ekadasi attains Vaikuntha, the heavenly realm of Lord Vishnu. What arrangements does the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) make? Preparations begin in the first week of January, with the age-old temple cleansing ritual, Koil Alwar Tirumanjanam, performed at the Tirumala temple. This year it was performed on Tuesday. The entire temple premises, including sub temples, puja utensils, roofs, pillars and walls of the sanctum sanctorum are smeared with an aromatic mixture called parimalam and cleansed. The temple witnesses a massive rush during the 10-day period from January 10 to 19. The TTD makes arrangements for over 7 lakh devotees, who go for darshan during the 10 days. Tokens are provided for free darshan through special counters. More than 5,000 people, including TTD, revenue, and health and sanitation officials are involved in ensuring the festival's smooth conduct. Apart from officials, services of around 3000 Srivari Sevaks, and Scouts and Guides are also taken. They guide the pilgrims to the accommodations, facilities, and various entry gates. This year, 1,800 police personnel have been posted at Tirumala for the safety and security of devotees, while 1,200 have been posted at Tirupati to control the flow of crowds. Parking space for 12,000 vehicles per day is created atop Tirumala. What happens during the Vaikuntha Ekadasi festival? For 10 days, the Vaikuntha Dwaram remains open for devotees. On January 10, on the day of Vaikuntha Ekadasi, from 9 am to 11 am, Sri Malayappa Swamy along with Sri Devi and Bhu Devi are taken out in a golden chariot to bless devotees, who gather along the four streets of the temple. The entire Tirumala is decked up with floral decorations and electrical illuminations, done by experts brought in from Mysore. The TTD starts issuing Slot Sarva Darshan (SSD) tokens for free darshan two-three days before the festival. For the first three days of the festival, more than 1.20 lakh tokens are issued. The tickets contain the time, information about entry point, alighting point, parking point, and pickup point for the ease of devotees. What went wrong? In spite of lakhs of people visiting the temple towns of Tirumala and Tirupati, stampedes involving devotees are rare. The TTD makes arrangements to distribute the free darshan tickets by opening numerous counters all over Tirupati town. Waiting areas, where devotees form queues before proceeding to the ticket counters, are clearly demarcated and people are prevented from joining the queues if it exceeds capacity. This year, the TTD opened 90 counters at 8 centers in Tirupati to give nearly 1.20 lakh tickets for darshan on January 10, 11 and 12. To ease the crowd, four more counters were set up at Tirumala only for residents of Tirupati. Among the 8 centres in Tirupati, one is Ramanaidu High School, Bhairagipatteda. The waiting area for this centre is the Padmavathi Park located opposite the school. As per the complaint given by Narayanvaram Mandal Tahsildar M Jayaramulu at the Tirupati East Police Station, on the basis of which an FIR was filed, cops posted at the gates of Padmavathi Park were made aware of an elderly woman who was having breathing difficulties. Several policemen went in, and when the gate was opened slightly to bring her out, people at the back of the queue, not aware of this medical emergency, thought the ticket counters had opened. They rushed and pushed forward, causing people standing at the front to fall down. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has slammed the TTD and police officers for negligence. He said that while the capacity at the Padmavathi park was about 2,000 people, over 2,500 had entered. He also pulled up officials for not preparing a proper evacuation plan for emergencies.
