Tirumala, the holiest and the most sacred of the Hindu pilgrimage centres of India, attracts thousands of pilgrims daily from all over India and abroad. They come, not only to have the Darshan of Lord, but to experience the serenity and religious ambiance of a Holy place. They pour into the Hundi, as offerings Crores of Rupees, which sustain thousands of families and also help the economy of Andhra Pradesh. It is therefore imperative, that everyone, particularly those hailing from Andhra Pradesh do all they can to preserve and maintain the serene and holy atmosphere of Tirumala. But, What is happening today?

Last week, on August 19, 1996, an All Party Bandh was observed in Tirumala. With the tacit cooperation of the authorities, it was runaway success. Thousands of outstation pilgrims were put to avoidable hardships. Media went euphoric and described the event as unprecedented and the first of its kind. This should have boosted up the ego of local politicians. What did the Bandh achieve other than creating problems to the pilgrims? If the politicians really wanted to solve the problem of their concern, they should have agitated before the Collector of the District or the Executive Officer of the T.T.D. or staged a Dharna in Hyderabad. Why harass the pilgrims who are not a party to the dispute? If this pernicious trend of political agitations in Tirumala is allowed to continue and not nipped in the bud, pilgrims instead of hearing the chant, ‘Venkataramana Govinda’, will hear political slogans of ‘Zindabad’ and ‘Murdabad’. We suggest that the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh should call an All Party Meeting to evolve a Code of Conduct to keep political activity away from Tirumala. The State Government should bring a Bill to ban all political activity in Tirumala.

Over the years, Tirumala is being changed from a Religious centre to a Picnic spot and Pleasure joint for the neo-rich. It is slowly losing its basic character of a Pilgrim centre. All the vices available in a medium Town are available in Tirumala. In the recent past there have been cases of arrest of ‘Call girls’ in Tirumala and all the prohibited items like cigarettes and non-vegetarian fare etc. are available on demand. One should not get shocked to find the latest variety of Condoms in some of the shops. The dubious distinction of helping in this metamorphosis should be equally shared by the T.T.D. and the local authorities. On the plea of making amenities for the pilgrims, more than the required commercial complexes have been created with no check on the occupants or the business being carried on in them. It is time that an objective Review is undertaken to eliminate undesirable activities in the commercial complexes. T.T.D. as the sole owner of the Shops and the Guest houses has the responsibility to ensure that no undesirable activities are carried on in those premises. All Government Departmental Heads should be instructed to advise their officers in Tirumala to enforce all regulations in letter and spirit to maintain the sanctity of Tirumala.

Tirumala is neither a regular village or a Town. There are no industries or agricultural lands to enable the local population to eke out a living. The only occupation they can hope to get is an employment related to T.T.D. activities or those catering to the needs of the pilgrims. Since, T.T.D. takes care of bulk of the amenities for the pilgrims, the scope for local population gets limited. Naturally this gives rise to clandestine and illegal activities like Black-marketing in Laddu Prasadam, Running unauthorised Guest houses, acting as Touts to cut the red-tape in getting Darshans etc. To prevent these, the answer is not enforcement but to make conscious effort to reduce the static and permanent population in Tirumala. To start with T.T.D. should move bulk of its staff to Tirupathy. Except those who are required for the Emergency Services and for Temple rituals, all others should work in shifts and come from Tirupathy. T.T.D.should provide them with Free transport. Secondly, T.T.D. should stop construction of New Cottages and Dormitories in Tirumala and build them at Alipiri. All cottages falling due for renovation should be demolished and the new ones constructed at Alipiri. A big self contained Shopping Mall should be constructed near the New cottage complex and non-essential shops could be moved down from Tirumala.

With the number of vehicles coming upto Tirumala is increasing day-by-day, the atmosphere in the town is getting polluted, the long term solution for this problem is to stop all vehicles at Alipiri and convey pilgrims to Tirumala by electric trolley or busses. With modern advances in Technology, it should be possible to have a cable car or a conveyor system. Tree plantation in Tirumala Town itself requires to be done on a large scale. With the proposed reduction in static population, problems of disposal of waste and sewer will also become less.

By the turn of this century, the average number of pilgrims per day will easily exceed sixty thousands. It should be remembered that our arrangements should ensure quick Darshan and rotation of pilgrims. Our emphasis in the past has been to provide all amenities in Tirumala itself for a leisurely pilgrimage. This is no more true. The pilgrim desires good unhindered Darshan and a serene and religious atmosphere. He is not interested in 5-star luxuries. Take the case of Sabarimala, Amarnath and Badrinath and even Vaishnavo Devi. Even in the absence of comforts people flock there. It is necessary to think of the thousands of pilgrims who will be benefited than fighting for the statusquo. The long term answer lies in de-urbanising and de-commercialising Tirumala.

Former Chief Minister, Late N.T.Rama Rao dreamt of making Tirumala, the Vatican of the South. His dream got floundered on bureaucratic red tape. We do hope, that the present Chief Minister will initiate urgent steps to preserve the sanctity of Tirumala. Let all devotees of Lord Balaji raise their voice in unison to demand that the State Government take energetic steps in this direction.