Andhra Pradesh: Covid Vaccination Certificate Mandatory For Devotees Visiting Tirumala

Pilgrims visiting the shrine must carry their fully vaccinated certificates or a Covid-19 test negative report taken 48 hours earlier, said Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam

Hindu devotees visit the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams temple | Getty Images

New Delhi: With the rise in Covid-19 cases led by the Omicron variant, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) has made it mandatory for visitors to carry their fully vaccinated certificates or a Covid-19 test negative report taken 48 hours earlier.

The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) that governs the ancient hill- shrine of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala, near here, on Friday said henceforth, pilgrims visiting the shrine must carry their fully vaccinated certificates or a Covid-19 test negative report taken 48 hours earlier, according to a senior TTD official, reported PTI.

The devotees without the certificates or report would not be allowed to climb the hills either by vehicle or on foot, the official said.

New regulations are being implemented to protect the health of devotees as the number of devotees increases. TTD urged devotees to co-operate in this decision, TTD said. Meanwhile, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) has released 4,60,000 tickets on Friday for the January quota.

The TTD website received 14 lakh hits for darshan tickets at once. However, the ticket allotment process went smoothly and 4,60,000 tickets were booked in 55 minutes, publication Mint quoted a local news portal.

The official website has also confirmed that the special entry darshan quota for January, 222 is completely booked as lakhs of people continue to book their tickets.

Meanwhile, the TTD has released 20,000 tickets per day from January 1, 13 to 22, 12 thousand per day from January 2 to 12, and from 23 to 31 respectively. While the website released TTD released 5,500 virtual service tickets online on Thursday for January 1, 2, 13, 22, and 26, which were booked within minutes.

The TTD will also release the Sarvadarshan tickets for the month of January on Saturday. As many as 1,55,000 tickets will be available for the Sarvadarshan.

Andhra Pradesh has logged in two more cases of Omicron variant of the Covid-19 on Friday, taking the count of the new to four in the state. While one case was detected in East Godavari, another emerged in the Visakhapatnam district.