As the Vaikunda Ekadasi festival at Tirumala is set to begin tomorrow, thousands of people have flocked to Tirupati to secure their free darshan tickets. The festival, which will last for 10 days starting on December 23, 2023, will see the gates of heaven open for devotees.
In an unprecedented move, 4 lakh 25 thousand free darshan tickets have been made available for the 10-day festival. However, these free darshan tokens are only being distributed to those who make the journey to Tirupati Hill.
Devotees began waiting in front of 96 counters as early as 2 pm yesterday, eager to secure their tickets for the much anticipated darshan. After hours of waiting, the free darshan tokens were finally distributed at 10 pm, leading to a rush of devotees as they clamored to obtain their tickets.
In order to obtain the free tokens, individuals were required to provide a copy of their Aadhaar card as proof of identification. The distribution of the tokens was supervised by a large number of policemen in order to maintain order and security throughout the process.
The high demand for these free darshan tickets is a testament to the significance of the Vaikunda Ekadasi festival in the region, and the lengths that devotees are willing to go to in order to participate in this spiritual event.