Tirumala association plans more Balaji temples

Suresh Dharur

Tribune News Service

Hyderabad, October 3

The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), an autonomous body that manages the country’s richest temple at Tirumala, has drawn up plans to build Balaji temples in several cities across the country.

While work is underway at Kurukshetra, New Delhi and Kanyakumari, there are plans to build temples, dedicated to the presiding deity Lord Venkateswara, at Amaravati, Raipur, in Chhattisgarh and Gandhinagar in Gujarat.

To begin with, the TTD will take up temple construction at Amaravati, the proposed new capital city of Andhra Pradesh near the coastal city of Vijayawada.

“It is going to be a grand temple in AP’s proposed capital city. We have written to the state government seeking land in or around Amaravati,” TTD Executive Officer D Sambasiva Rao said. The temple body would need five to seven acres. “Once the state government hands over the land, we will take up construction. The TTD will bear the entire cost of the project,” the official said.

The TTD already runs Balaji temples in Chennai, Bangalore and Hardwar.

“The Chhattisgarh and Gujarat governments have agreed to donate land for the proposed temples while Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim have earmarked parcels of land in their respective capital cities,” the official said.

Besides the temples, the TTD will also construct “Balaji Bhavans” to provide facilities such as booking of darshan tickets, accommodation for Tirumala and weekend “laddu” sale counters. The rituals and pujas, on the lines of those performed at the Tirumala shrine, will be conducted by specially trained TTD priests.

The TTD is the country’s richest endowment body, with the Tirumala temple in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh alone accounting for annual revenue of Rs 2,262.52 crore in 2014.

The Tirumala temple attracts an average of about 50,000 pilgrims daily from all over the country and abroad and the number crosses 1 lakh mark during weekends and holidays.