Venkateswara temple at Tirumala closed for solar eclipse

Tirumala, July 18 :-

    Darshan of the Lord Venkateswara at the world famous temple town of Tirumala is closed from July 21 evening till the next day morning in view of the solar eclipse.

Officials of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) informed TNN here on Saturday that the darshan of the Lord will not be available from 9 pm on July 21 (Tuesday) till the traditional rituals are over on July 22 (Wednesday) morning which are expected to be complete by 11 am.

Darshan will be closed on Tuesday evening after the rituals of Sahasra Kalasabhishekam and Archana. On Wednesday morning after the eclipse, darshan of the Lord will be allowed at about 11 am after performing Punya Vachannam   

On Saturday, Tollywood heroine Shriya, accompanied by her family members, had a darshan of Lord Venkateswara in the morning. On learning about her coming to this world famous hill shrine, several of her fans gathered before the temple to have a glimpse of her. The police had a tough time to control the crowd. She later left for the temple town of Sri Kalahasthi to have a darshan of the presiding deity there.

Meanwhile, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) on Saturday cancelled cellar darshan of the Lord in view of heavy rush of pilgrims. As Saturday is said to be the most auspicious day for the darshan of the Lord, pilgrims from various corners of the country arrived here.

“We are not issuing cellar tickets to the pilgrims on Saturday atop Tirumala Hills in view of the huge rush of devotees. All the compartments in the Vaikuntham queue complex are full with pilgrims. For ordinary darshan it is taking more than 12 hours to reach the sanctum sanctorum,” TTD officials told TNN here on Saturday.