TTD contemplates 'insurance for all devotees' model to ensure safe pilgrimage for all pilgrims visiting Tirumala

Time of India

14 hours ago

TIRUPATI:
Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams
, which administers the affairs of the world's richest Hindu temple at Tirumala, is contemplating launching a comprehensive insurance cover free of cost for every single devotee coming on a pilgrimage to the sacred abode of Lord Venkateswara from across the globe.
This initiative, touted as the first of its kind by any Hindu temple trust in the country, is intended to cover all forms of risks associated with a pilgrimage to Tirumala and make the visiting devotees feel completely safe and secure during their visit to the hill town.
TTD Additional EO Ch Venkaiah Choudary is holding a series of consultations with leading insurance companies in the country to turn the proposals into a reality soon.
The sacred abode of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala, considered the Bhuloka Vaikuntam (Heavenly abode on earth), is visited by approximately 2.5 crore devotees from across the globe annually.
Being one of the busiest Hindu pilgrimage shrines in the world, Tirumala attracts an average pilgrim footfall of approximately 70,000 devotees on weekdays and a little over 90,000 devotees during weekends and festive occasions.
The pilgrim influx further swells up to 2 lakh and above during important festive occasions such as the Garuda Seva during the Srivari annual Brahmotsavams, Vaikunta Ekadasi, and the Radhasapthami festivals.
Despite some of the best crowd management practices put in place by the Tirupati trust to handle heavy pilgrim congregations, numerous instances of stampedes and stampede-like situations have often led to loss of lives in the past.
The January 8 stampede this year, in the run-up to the Vaikunta Ekadasi festival, in which six devotees lost their lives and more than 50 pilgrims were injured near one of the Darshan ticket issuance counters in the temple city, was one of the worst ever stampedes reported in the history of the Tirupati trust.
Apart from this, there have been occasional instances of visiting devotees succumbing to fatal road mishaps, natural calamities, cardiac arrests, etc.,
during their sacred pilgrimage to Tirumala in the past.
To cite a few such instances, in the last week of January this year, a 3-year-old boy identified as Sathvik, from Chinna Chowk locality in Kadapa, who came to Tirumala with his parents, accidentally fell from a staircase at a pilgrim amenities complex on the hill town and succumbed to injuries.
In February this year, a 16-year-old boy identified as Manjunatha from Madikere in Karnataka, who had chronic heart ailments, died due to cardiac arrest near Matrusri Tarigonda Vengamamba Annaprasadam complex at Tirumala.
In November 2022, a 58-year-old devotee identified as K Gopal from Tirumalagiri in Salem of Tamil Nadu, died at the TTD laddu counters at Tirumala after he suffered a major cardiac arrest.
There have also been other instances of pilgrims dying in incidents involving tree crashes at Tirumala in the past. In July 2014, a 50-year-old devotee from Chennai, M Saroja, and a 35-year-old local cab driver, K Madhu, died on the spot after an eucalyptus tree got uprooted due to inclement weather and crashed on the devotees near the water works circle at Tirumala.
Apart from these instances, a spike in leopard attacks on trekking devotees has also emerged as a cause of major concern in recent times, particularly after a six-year-old girl, Lakshitha, who was trekking along with her parents along the Alipiri pedestrian route to Tirumala, was snatched away and mauled to death by a leopard in August 2023.
Taking all forms of security concerns of the visiting devotees into account, the Tirupati trust has now gone into a risk assessment mode, and Additional EO Ch Venkaiah Choudary has been holding consultations with leading insurers in the country to design and implement a comprehensive insurance plan for every single devotee coming on a pilgrimage to Tirumala in case they get involved in an unforeseen tragic incident, resulting in loss of lives or injuries.
At present, TTD extends support and insurance coverage for the visiting pilgrims only for accidents, and the area under cover is between Alipiri-Tirumala-Alipiri. The Tirupati trust has been extending a sum of Rs.3 lakh to the kin of pilgrims involved in accidental deaths during their visit to Tirumala. Cases of natural deaths and suicides will not be covered.
While the travel and tourism corporations and aggregators across the country have been bundling insurance coverage plans along with the ticket charges and collecting the same from the travellers and the public, in TTD's case, the temple trust plans to extend free insurance coverage for all pilgrims during their pilgrimage to Tirumala irrespective of the Darshan format they choose.
Pilgrims availing free Darshan under the three different formats, including the Slotted Sarvadarshan, Divya Darshan (trekking devotees), and Sarvadarshan without tokens, constitute 60-70% of the overall pilgrim footfall to Tirumala every day, and the Tirupati trust is in the process of arriving at a tailor-made insurance plan for all categories of devotees visiting the hill town.