Tirupati: The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) reported a hundi collection of Rs 116.46 crore for January 2024, from the devotees of Lord Venkateswara Swamy. Addressing the media on Friday, TTD executive officer A.V. Dharma Reddy provided insights into the temple activities over the past month. He said nearly 21.09 lakh devotees visited the shrine and 1.03 crore laddus were sold as prasadam.
Over 46.46 lakh people took the annaprasadam meals and 7.05 lakh pilgrims underwent the head-tonsuring rituals. Elaborating on the upcoming annual Ratha Saptami celebrations on February 16, Dharma Reddy said, “Lord Malayappa Swamy will ride seven different vahanas on a single day to bless devotees. We are making arrangements for the devotees in galleries along the mada streets.” He said a unique 3-day Dharmic Sadas would be held from February 3 to promote Sanatana Hindu
dharma.
Over 57 Peethadhipatis from all over the country would take part. “Their suggestions and advice will be extensively used for implementation of Dharmic programmes. This would help to stall religious conversions and empower human values among children from a young age itself," he noted.
The EO also highlighted the performance of over 2,350 heart surgeries in S.V. Children’s Hospital. This included 11 heart transplants and a 2-day-old baby’s successful surgery. A rare multi-organ transplant of heart, liver and kidneys was done in SVIMS hospital on January 18. Apart from these, TTD’s IT wing has identified 52 fake websites and 13 mobile apps that were misusing the temple’s name. He appealed to devotees to use only the official portal ttdevasthanams.ap.gov.in for darshan bookings, donations, etc.