Date:15/04/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/04/15/stories/2007041505780600.htm

Andhra Pradesh

Tirumala temple teems with pilgrims

Staff Reporter

TIRUMALA: The temple of Lord Venkateswara here witnessed a heavy pilgrim turnout on Saturday, the eve of Tamil New Year's Day. All precautionary arrangements made by the TTD management to meet the summer rush were thrown out of gear.

Devotees had to bear with hardships at the cottage allotment counters. Reception officials too were nowhere to be seen and the counter staff were forced to face the pilgrims' ire. The situation was no different at the Padmavathi guest house area where only VIP s were being accommodated.

Both the queue complexes were filled to capacity and the darshan queue lines stretched quite far.