TTD To Develop Spiritual Township Near Alipiri, Accommodation For 25,000 Devotees
What are you doing? The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Trust Board on Tuesday decided to set up a spiritual township in 20 acres at Alipiri near Tirupati to strengthen pilgrim management and improve facilities for devotees visiting Tirumala.
Briefing the media after a meeting in Tirumala, TTD chairman BR Naidu said that the board has decided to shift the existing sculpture institute at Alipiri to Devlok premises on SV Zoo Park Road to implement the project. The township will have modern accommodation and basic amenities and is envisaged as a base camp to accommodate the influx of pilgrims to the hilltop shrine, especially during peak seasons.
The spiritual district will offer accommodation to at least 25,000 devotees at a time, the president said. It will incorporate divine and theme-based elements to create a spiritually enriching atmosphere for pilgrims before they begin their journey to Tirumala.
Alipiri area is the gateway to the hill temple.
The board approved the appointment of an architect to plan the project.
Among other decisions, the board earmarked 100 acres near Palamaner for the “Temple Trees” initiative to cultivate sacred species of trees used to make wooden logs for Dwajasthambhams and temple chariots.
In the healthcare sector, it cleared the remaining hurdles for completion of Sri Padmavathi Pediatric Super Specialty Hospital in Tirupati by sanctioning an additional amount of ₹48 billion, taking the total amount approved to around ₹230 crore.
In the field of education, the board approved the installation of digital classrooms, CCTV cameras, computers, necessary software and personnel in 31 institutions operated by TTD. It has also decided to expand the mid-day meal scheme to day scholars of Sri Venkateswara Junior College and Sri Padmavathi Women’s Junior College, in line with state policy.
The hostel capacity at Sri Padmavathi Women’s Degree College will be increased from 2,100 to 2,370 seats with additional blocks.
The bench also approved ₹14.10 crore for the second phase of reconstruction of the Sri Siddeswara Swamy temple at Talakona, in addition to the ₹4 crore approved earlier, and approved the release of ₹14 crore to build a Lord Venkateswara Swamy temple at Bandra in Mumbai.
The meeting also decided to set up a special department for conservation of ancient structures in Tirumala, rename roads and junctions as having spiritual significance, fill 60 vacant posts in the engineering wing, revise temple staff salaries and create new posts in Srivari Potu and Sannidhi Yadava categories as per rules.
