[nareshtrao]

Originally Posted by ashkamath

I am sorry for the late reply, as I was traveling a lot these days.

Please remember, The Lord as asked you to come and see him. It's not the darshan that you get. It's the darshan that he gives.

Hope that helps. Stay blessed

Thanks indeed for such a well written and detailed post. Your thoughtfulness in penning down this is truly appreciated.

This will help all the readers, TBhpians and others who come here, for a long time.

[Mystic]

Originally Posted by nareshtrao

Thanks indeed for such a well written and detailed post. Your thoughtfulness in penning down this is truly appreciated.

This will help all the readers, TBhpians and others who come here, for a long time.

That is one solid advise given by ashkamath. This would be useful for all to refer in future.

As a devotee going to Tirumala for past 6 decades, let me add a couple of more thoughts that may be useful to some:

1. It is customary to visit the Sri Varahaswami temple before visiting Lord Balaji at the Tirumala. According to legend, Lord Varahaswamy provided space for Lord Venkateswara to stay in Tirumala. As a token of gratitude, Lord Venkateswara instructed his devotees to visit the Sri Varahaswami temple first. It is located just beside the main temple and not much queue would be there.

2. After Darshan, make it a habit to eat the free meals located beside the temple. It is Lord’s Prasadam. It is an experience by itself.

3.Tirumala is a not a tourist place but it is a divine place of residence of Lord himself. For those intending to stay for multiple days on the hills as a tourist place should be avoided. In fact I am a donor myself and get free accommodation for only one night per year to stay on hill not extendable.

4. Donot close eyes when having darshan as we tend to do it as a reflex action. You get only few seconds before you are pushed out. Open your eyes and have Darshan and sit outside and revisit that experience by closing your eyes. For those fortunate ones who have special Darshan like suprabhata sevas etc, they get to spend a couple of minutes before the Lord.

[mrkireeti]

Originally Posted by ashkamath

Even though your slot is 2 PM, you can go and enter as soon as you arrive at Tirumala. The check point people check only the date and are not specific about the time slot. We had 4 PM slot and we went around 12 PM and we were allowed to pass, no question asked. So, do not wait for your time slot.. As soon as you arrive at the Tirumala hills walk up straight to the paid darshan que and you should be through as long as the darshan date is matching.

Good to know this. We have a Darshan slot for 8 pm on 27th with 2 kids. It really helps to start a little early given the winter. Thank you for a detailed post.

[MrMcqueen]

It was a good read and good advice

As old Chittoor Districts (which was split into two districts both Tirupati and Chittoor now) has many temples under Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam. And many famous temples under various trusts, Few temples under TTD are given below.

Sri Venugopalaswami Temple, Karvetinagaram.
Sri Vedanarayanaswami Temple, Nagalapuram.
Sri Kalyana Venkateswaraswami Temple, Narayanavanam (my Village).
Sri Prasanna Venkateswara Swami Temple, Appalayagunta.(Nearest to Tirupathi).
Sri Kariyamanikya Swami Temple – Nagari.
Sri Annapoorna Sametha Kasi Visweswara Swamy Temple - Bugga Agraharam.
Palli Kondeswara Swami Temple, Surutupalli.(farthest from Tirupathi).

All of these temples will be around 15 kms to 70 kms, from Tirupathi it is worth a visit.

They (TTD) has introduced a package tour to take you to these temples. The bus starts from the Central Reception Office, Srinivasam Complex (Opposite to RTC Bus Stop) Tirupati at 8 am every day and returns the same day.

The price of the bus package is around Rs.250-400, if you wish to visit by your own vehicle, you can just locate these temples on google maps and plan accordingly.

For readers convenience who wish to travel from Chennai, Surutupalli Temple is on the way to Chennai from Tirupathi and plan accordingly.

[aashishnb]

Originally Posted by ashkamath

You can buy as much laddu you want. They cost Rs. 50 per laddu. My cousin purchased 20 laddus paying Rs 1000 over our free Laddus. Carry a large bag and also take a friend / family member along to the laddu counter if you are buying a large quantity. Your friend can hold the bag open while you can count the laddus and put it in. Please do count the laddu loudly as the delivery guys try to confuse you. It happened with us. We were supposed to get about 29 Laddus (including about 5 free laddus) and the delivery guy stopped at 22 laddus and said we are done. we were counting loudly as we put it in bag and hence he had to deliver the balance 7 laddus too. So spell out loudly the number of laddus going in the bag. Also carry some cash if you want to buy extra laddus.

Hope that helps. Stay blessed

Excellent detailed post. Thanks Ashkamath.

One additional suggestion, if I may, try to get the 'vadai' ('wada') from the prasad counters. It is like a very thick savory roti. Will be dark black in colour. It is quite hard to chew but quite nice (I like it).

While laddus are available at every counter, the wada/vadai, is available only at limited times and only on few counters. Be prepared to ask at multiple counters & pay more for it.

Due to its limited availability, not many people may know about it.

[acedriver_9000]

Originally Posted by Mystic

In fact I am a donor myself and get free accommodation for only one night per year to stay on hill not extendable.

Could you please share more details about this? Are you referring to a room donation? How can one make such a donation, and what are the benefits one will get? And whats the minimum amount one can donate?

[Mystic]

Originally Posted by acedriver_9000

Could you please share more details about this? Are you referring to a room donation? How can one make such a donation, and what are the benefits one will get? And whats the minimum amount one can donate?

I had already posted in this thread sometime back on the details. Pls refer the same.

Originally Posted by Mystic

We grew up going to Tirumala every year since child hood. Every time is an adventure. Sometimes it would be VIP treatment when I went with my father on one of his official visits as he was Chief Engineer with Andhra Pradesh Government. Other times, we even had to come back without Dharshan due to unimaginable crowd. Sometimes, we had a Dharshan and don't have accommodation on the hill. Sometimes I drive to Tirumala directly and drop my family senior citizens in the cottage and come back by bus to Tirupati and climb again by walk to the hill of 9 kms and 3600 steps along with other young family folks.

I downloaded the TTD app and started exploring the various options. I found one option which suits my requirements. As my son became one of the youngest PhD in CS-AI-NLP and also one of the youngest faculty member in one of the top 5 universities in USA, I wanted to do some sort of a donation for education in India. I went through the details of the Sri Venkateswara Vidyadana Trust by TTD. This scheme solves both my yearly visits and my donation requirement.
I paid online Rs 1,01,116 and I get SUPATHAM entry once every year for a life time for 5 family members along with accommodation and laddus as Prasadam .You can claim 80G tax exemption. The darshan booking takes a few minutes on the app and I can book for any day in a year.

Details of Sri Venkateswara Vidyadana Trust:
Literacy and awareness to banish the darkness of knowledge through Education for all is the route to empowerment of India. With this view, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams has embarked on discharging its social responsibility towards education. For this purpose, the Board of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams has floated a public charitable trust namely the Sri Venkateswara Vidyadana Trust in the month of April,2008. The main objectives of this trust is as follows, To take all necessary steps through any and all possible means, methods and processes for inculcating, propagating disseminating, and promoting social discipline moral values and ethical etiquette among the people of India, in particular in younger generation and to instill, in them faith in the fundamentals and tenets of Indian culture which has been practiced and has been the back bone of cultural and moral fabric of our nation from times immemorial

[nareshtrao]

Originally Posted by ashkamath

Wear a mundu / Dhoti as that is the traditional attire. Wear the dhoti in such a way, that the lower portion is not very low as you could trip on it while getting pushed and pulled in the que. Tie your dhoti a little up so that chances of tripping is eliminated. Do not worry about how you would look, every one is totally focussed on darshan and no one bothers.

I noticed on the ticket that other Indian Traditional attire are also allowed. So if one is uncomfortable with Dhoti/Mundu, then a Kurta Pajama is a good alternative. Comes with the added benefit of pockets.

[Aviator_guy]

Originally Posted by nareshtrao

I noticed on the ticket that other Indian Traditional attire are also allowed. So if one is uncomfortable with Dhoti/Mundu, then a Kurta Pajama is a good alternative. Comes with the added benefit of pockets.

Kurta pajama is allowed

[whitewing]

Originally Posted by aka_iitd

Hi All - Struggling to get tickets online this time in 2024. ...

Originally Posted by manjubp

If you need to visit earlier, try KSTDC or APSTDC, they have package tours. They are decent and takes care of getting a slot, accommodation to take shower and decent breakfast.

Had been on a KSTDC tour assuming the usual 300rs ticket was in place, was surprised to learn that this is discontinued due to misuse of the facility by the operators (Apparently APSTDC rents out their quotas to private players, and recently these private players misused the quotas leading to across board suspension).
So devotees in the KSTDC & APSTDC packages no longer have seegradarshanam but now have to go via the sarvadarshana - be prepared for long wait times, a couple of days back, for a 5:45AM entry, we got darshan at ~12:00pm. Of course, one need not have to wait for the whole duration in the compartment, and can step out and rejoin 2hours prior to the allotted time (do check with the local officials on the actual estimated time - the time slot estimated in the token is wildly pessimistic. In my case the estimated time was the next day afternoon i.e 30 hours later, but actual wait time was 6hrs).

[DetectiveMiles]

Originally Posted by jkrishnakj

Thank you Ravi and Rangy. This hack (I choose to call it that way) worked for me.


2. I chose ‘Online Seva’ at the top right menu, chose Srivari Seva, Tirumala
3. Chose Kalyanotsavam for tomorrow and booked the virtual one, for 1000 INR, 2 people
4. Once payment went through, the portal asks if you would like to book Darshan and on saying Yes, it showed up available slots for July
5. I picked a date of convenience and that’s it, it worked.

For those who don’t mind an extra INR 200 per person, this is an option to get a special entry Darshan ticket for July.

Does Virtual Seva have separate quota for Darshan or same as regualr 300 Darshan?

When I checked Virtual Seva, Seva quota is open but no Darshan quota is available(all red), and it shows till March 2025 end.

[ValarMorghulis]

in case any one is interested. Special Entry Darshan tickets for Mar 2025 are available right now.

[mrkireeti]

Originally Posted by ashkamath

Even though your slot is 2 PM, you can go and enter as soon as you arrive at Tirumala. The check point people check only the date and are not specific about the time slot. We had 4 PM slot and we went around 12 PM and we were allowed to pass, no question asked. So, do not wait for your time slot.. As soon as you arrive at the Tirumala hills walk up straight to the paid darshan que and you should be through as long as the darshan date is matching.

Also do not wear the slipper anytime. Keep your slippers in your car always.

We were allowed at 2:45 pm for 8 pm slot. Thank you for this advice - we were having our dinner by 8 pm, despite an hour wait in one of the compartments.

Originally Posted by Mystic

I had already posted in this thread sometime back on the details. Pls refer the same.

This is really good info. I will go through the details - seriously considering this given the nature of donation.

Originally Posted by nareshtrao

I noticed on the ticket that other Indian Traditional attire are also allowed. So if one is uncomfortable with Dhoti/Mundu, then a Kurta Pajama is a good alternative. Comes with the added benefit of pockets.

While we all went in traditional attire, I have seen a number of people who were allowed in formal pants and normal shirts during my visit on 27th Dec. However, it is always advisable to go in traditional wear to avoid any unwanted situations.

[temala]

Guys -
Did anyone visit Tirumala in Vaikunta Ekadasi window from 10th Jan to Till Date. We booked the darshan tickets but they haven't release any rooms to book online.

If anyone visits, let me know if rooms are available if we go in person at Tirumala. I am travelling on Friday 17th Jan from Bangalore.

[srvm]

Originally Posted by temala

Guys -
Did anyone visit Tirumala in Vaikunta Ekadasi window from 10th Jan to Till Date. We booked the darshan tickets but they haven't release any rooms to book online.

If anyone visits, let me know if rooms are available if we go in person at Tirumala. I am travelling on Friday 17th Jan from Bangalore.

The following is generally applicable in Tirumala. But there could be exceptions to this during important festivals such as Brahmotsavam, Ratha Sapthami, Vaikunta-Dwaram-open (10 days after Vaikunta Ekadashi) etc.

There is a way to get TTD rooms without prior online booking. One has to go to the building behind CRO office - its called Sudarshan 1NC. Here you will find a queue for room booking. One person with his/her Aadhaar card from the group/family can stand in queue (no need for entire family to stand). This is for rooms with rent Rs.50 or 100 per day.

Once the counter opens, show the Aadhaar card, tell the number of male and female pilgrims with you, then you get a paper-printed token with a unique number. Now watch the current running number in the TVs installed in the nearby areas, waiting areas, CRO office etc. When your turn comes up (typically after 5-6 hours), you will also receive an SMS to the mobile number linked to the Aadhaar id. This SMS will tell you which Choultry to go to. You get 2 hours time (starting from SMS received time) to report at that Choultry. Else, you lose your turn/opportunity. Once you take the room (once has to pay rent + refundable deposit), that Aadhaar number is blocked from booking another room for a time-period (I think its either 1 or 3 months).

The token is issued at the counter from 5am. Typically issued throughout the day. Tokens typically gets over by 1-4pm.
In my example (recently Dec-2024), 3200 tokens were issued on that day. My token number was like 3110. I received token at 3pm. SMS came to me around 10pm. By then, I was already on the way back to Bangalore, hence did not report for taking room. Hope this helps.

oh! Have a great darsan.

Edit: Exception to above method - Rooms are not given to single pilgrim and unmarried men.