Tirumala: In view of rising coronavirus cases in Andhra Pradesh, the famous Tirupati Balaji Temple has decided to temporarily suspend Sarva Darshan tokens for devotees visiting the place from April 12. Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), the trust that runs the famous Tirumala temple, along with several other temples in the state, announced the decision on Wednesday witnessing huge crowds at the religious site.
The Tirupati trust said in a statement that the last Sarva Darshan token will be issued in the evening on April 11. They said that thousands of pilgrims stand in line at the Bhudevi complex and Vishnu Nivasam to collect the tokens for a time slot to visit the temple. As a result, chances of coronavirus spreading among the devotees is very high.
The TTD had already brought down the number of Sarva Darshan tokens issued every day from 22,000 to 15,000, and issued COVID-19 norms like mandatory face masks in the compound.
Many other temple trusts have also announced restrictions due to the rise of COVID-19 cases across the country. Earlier this month, Saibaba temple in Shirdi temple and the famous Siddhivinayak temple in Maharashtra decided to shut services following the government orders on restrictions, weekend lockdown and night curfew to contain the coronavirus spread.