Devotees supplying vegetables to Tirupati for free food scheme
Vijayawada, Dec 19 (PTI) Devotees of Lord Balaji from the city and the surrounding areas have been regularly supplying agriculture produce like vegetables for the Sri Venkateswara Nitya Annadanam Scheme at Tirupati, official of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) said. Since 2004, the devotees from the city have supplied 8,000 tonnes of vegetables by bearing the transport costs as well. Yesterday, they despatched 11 tonnes of vegetables from the city, TTD Executive Officer L V Subramanyam said. The scheme was started on a small scale in 1984 and now Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam is providing full meals freely to all devotees in Tirumala under the scheme. Everyday, nearly 60,000 devotees avail the free meals scheme in Annadanam.
Source: IBN Live
Hyderabad-Pune now in 8 hours!
Good news for commuters travelling between Hyderabad and Pune. South Central Railway on Sunday launched its first Shatabdi Express connecting the cities. The train was flagged off by Secunderabad MP Anjan Kumar Yadav.
Categorised into AC chair car and Executive chair car class, the train accommodates nearly 515 passengers. While the fare for regular AC chair car is Rs. 780 per person, it is Rs.1, 500 per person in the Executive class.
Ticket fare includes tea, snacks and soft drinks. There will be entertainment for passengers as authorities have installed music facilities, besides providing newspapers.
Train no.12026 departs Secunderabad railway station at 2.40 p.m. and arrives in Pune at 11 p.m. En route, the train will halt at Begumpet, Vikarabad Jn, Tandur, Wadi Jn, Gulbarga, Solapur and Pune.
In the return journey, Train No. 12025 will depart Pune at 5.50 a.m and arrives in Secunderabad at 2.10 p.m. These services will be operated on six days, excepting on Tuesdays.
Mr. Yadav said there was need to launch more Shatabdi Expresses and other trains within the SCR limits. On the Hyderabad-Tirupati route, there was heavy passenger rush and it called for a Shatabdi connecting Hyderabad and Tirupati. MP Hanumantha Rao, MLC K.R. Amos, Mayor Banda Karthika Chandra Reddy and others were present on the occasion.
Source: The Hindu
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Lord Balaji’s Ekantha Seva
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Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams earns a fortune selling tresses
Here is one hair rising story! Those who have had their lovely locks shaved off or trimmed at the neighbourhood barber shop, think again. Your curls could have fetched you a small fortune.
In an incident which has shades of O’ Henry’s Gift of the Magi but minus the emotional quotient, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), which manages the affairs of the Lord Venkateshwara Temple in Tirumala, Andhra Pradesh, has earned a whopping Rs 133 crore by selling off human hair offered by the devotees.
For the first time, the TTD authorities went for an e-auction of human hair, which has a huge demand among traders across the globe. And to their surprise, as many as 49 traders participated in the auction that took place on Thursday.
The traders bid huge amounts of money for various categories of hair, thereby filling up the coffers of one of the richest temples in the country.
“We went for e-auction this year to avoid manipulation by some bidders. We engaged the services of the Metal Scrap Trading Corporation Ltd, a government of India organisation, to undertake the process of e-auction,” L. V. Bhaskara Reddy, financial advisor and chief accounts officer of TTD, said on Friday.
The maiden e-auctioning of human hair has fetched TTD a revenue that is Rs 30cr more than the previous year. “In all, we auctioned 65,000 kg of human hair,” Reddy said.
The auctioning of 11,500 kg of hair with a length of above 31 inches earned the temple Rs 23.25 crore. The second category, comprising 21,300 kg of hair measuring between 16-30 inches, fetched Rs 39.49 crore, while the third variety weighing 1.30 lakh kg and 10- 15 inches long earned Rs 66.37 crore. There’s the fourth (900kg measuring five-nine inches) and fifth (3 lakh kg of hair less than five inches long) categories as well which fetched the temple Rs 36 lakh and Rs 2.31 crore, respectively.
The grey hair too had its fun in the sun. Around 1,500 kg of grey hair fetched Rs 1.40 crore. On an average, the hill shrine of Tirumala attracts over 50,000 pilgrims every day and the number crosses the one lakh mark on weekends and special occasions.
A majority of the pilgrims tonsure their heads and offer hair to the lord, a practice that has been in vogue for centuries. During peak season, 45,000- 50,000 people get their heads tonsured daily at the TTD’s 16 tonsuring halls – two of which run round the clock.
The daily average of 800kg of hair harvested easily crosses a thousand kilograms on weekends and during peak season. The temple trust employs nearly 650 barbers, including 60 women, and each of them could shave off an average of 60 heads in a six-hour shift.
Bicycle hubs on Tirumala for pilgrims
TIRUMALA: The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams is starting ‘bicycle hubs’ at various points on Tirumala in a phased manner for commuting by pilgrims from one place to another on the hill. Pilgrims can pedal from from one place to another, and leave the vehicle at the nearest hub.
It plans to purchase 200 or 400 cycles and keep them at three or four ideal locations, allowing pilgrims to commute one place to another place and leave the cycle in that area hub.
As part of the plan, two dozen bicycles were purchased and brought to Tirumala on Monday. District collector Solomon Arogyaraj and TTD joint executive officer KS Srinivasa Raju distributed the cycles to Tirupati Urban J Prabhakar Rao, Tirumala deputy superintendent of police Umamaheswara Sarma and some other policemen.
Chief vigilance and security officer MK Singh, additional VGO Shivakumar Reddy, superintendent engineer Ramesh Reddy and others� went cycling from the GNC tollgate to the temple.
Srinivasa Raju said Tirumala was facing an increasing threat of pollution with tens of thousand of vehicles being operated every day round the clock. “The TTD is taking steps to protect the environment� and this is the first time it has banned two-wheelers to Tirumala on the Garuda Seva day, the fifth day of the annual Srivari Brahmotsavams, which attracts lakhs of people. We also imposed total ban on vehicular movement, particularly private jeeps and taxis, on the hill,” he said.
“Premier educational institutions use cycles for internal transport and in several other developed countries bicycles are used more for commuting short distances,” the JEO explained.
The TTD move has surprised local people who said till now the TTD had cracked whip on those bringing bicycles for their children and even registered cases against them.
Source: IBNLive
Ornaments of Sri Venkateswaraswamy
CM to lay stone for Tirupati Outer Ring Road
TIRUMALA: For the first time after becoming chief minister in November last, N Kiran Kumar Reddy offered his hair to Lord Venkateshwara at the famed hill shrine on May 30 this year. And now, he would present the traditional silk vastrams to the Lord on behalf of the state government on the first day of the annual Brahmotsavams, beginning from September 29.
The CM would also lay the foundation stone for the outer ring road (ORR) connecting GNC toll gate to Kaustubham guest house as part of the master plan and also inaugurate Kumaradhara and Pasupudhara water projects. It would be a first for Kiran to present the silk clothes to the Lord after he became CM. He is also scheduled to visit Tirupati on September 21 to inaugurate Vishnu Nivas pilgrim complex in the temple town.
Devotees offer hair to the Lord when their wishes are fulfilled. It remains to be seen whether Kiran would tonsure his hair again. In the last 6-8 months, Kiran had seen a turbulent period with poor governance, Jagan challenge and lack of control over Congress party affairs. When he offered his hair in May, it raised several eyebrows as Kiran had visited Tirumala temple twice after ascending the throne, but had not offered his hair before. But the priests reportedly advised him to pay obeisance to the Lord so that he would have smooth days ahead. As a result, Kiran went under the barber’s knife.
Meanwhile, TTD board chairman Kanumuri Bapiraju said the temple administration is all set to conduct the annual Salakatla Brahmotsavams. He said they conducted a trial run of Garuda Seva (which would be held on October 3) to tackle the pilgrim influx on the most important day of the Brahmotsavams. Sources said over five lakh pilgrims are expected to throng Tirumala on that day.
“We are appealing to VIPs not to seek any favourable treatment and visit the shrine like common pilgrims during Brahmotsavams,” he said. Apart from Garuda Seva, the golden chariot procession on October 4 and Rathotsavam on October 6 are the other important rituals.
Earlier, Bapiraju visited Srivari mettu footpath route near Chandragiri, 22 km from Tirupati, on Tuesday along with TTD executive officer LV Subramanyam and joint EO K S Srinivasaraju. Bapiraju said the Srivari mettu route has great significance since it was used by none other than the Lord himself. Over 5,000 pilgrims take this path every day to reach the Lord’s abode and the number touches 10,000, during peak days.
Source: timesofindia
TTD Chairman inspects CRO, Q complex
TIRUMALA: Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams Trust Board chairman Kanumuri Bapiraju, along with joint executive officer KS Srinivasa Raju, inspected the facilities available to pilgrims at the Central Reception Office (CRO) here on Sunday.
He also inspected the queue lines and interacted with devotees waiting for their turn for darshan of the Lord.
Speaking to mediapersons, Bapiraju said the TTD was always keen on creating amenities to pilgrims from within and outside the country.
“We have focused now on renovating the existing cottages and work on two blocks has been taken up in the first phase which is likely to be completed by March next.
We are also in talks with L&T, Nagarjuna Constructions to renovate six other blocks on ‘no profit, no loss’ basis.
We will hold a meeting with them after the annual Brahmotsavams.’’ With pilgrims having to wait in queuelines even to get accommodation during peak times, the chairman directed officials to offer them milk, coffee, buttermilk or tea as per their choice.
“The TTD officials and staff are doing a commendable job.
For more details, Visti IBN Live.