Located at Tirumala Hills in the Chitoor district of Andhra Pradesh, Tirupati Balaji Temple is one of the most revered temples by Hindus. It is dedicated to Lord Venkateshwara, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu who is believed to have appeared to Earth to save the people from the turbulences of Kali Yuga.
Every year, millions of people visit the temple to seek the blessings of the Lord. As the crowd on a particular day is around 50,000 – 100,000 devotees, there are inevitable huge queues in Darshan lines. To ease up the crowd, there are various types of Darshan that a pilgrim can decide to choose from depending on their preferences, timing, and the services covered in a particular Darshan.
Sarvadarshanam is the free durshan service where pilgrims stand in long queues to get their token and wait for their turn to catch a glimpse of the Lord. The timings of Sarvadarshanam varies according to the days of the week. Normally, around 18 – 20 hours are allotted for Sarvadarshanam.
The Vaikuntam Queue Complex serves as the entrance for Sarvadarshan. The entire complex consists of a series of interconnected halls leading to the main temple accompanied with facilities like annaprasadam, drinks, medical care, toilets, filter water, and closed circuit televisions through which devotional programmes are played.
Despite the huge crowd, the efficient management makes the entire process convenient.
The Special Entry Darshan was introduced on 21st Sept 2009 to ease up the crowd in Sarvadarshan and provide quick darshan to the pilgrims. To book Special Entry Darshan, pilgrims need to buy its ticket worth Rs.300 either online or offline (current booking, e-darshan booking). The booking is open 24/7.
Along with quick entry, pilgrims get 2 laddus for free with Special Entry Darshan.
Pilgrims can book for Special Entry Darshan in advance through Internet Booking, e-darshan counters, and Indian Post Offices. To book in advance online, you can visit here.
If you are booking via current booking, i.e. at the counters at Tirupati itself then you can book 3 hrs prior to the Darshan time. The booking of the ticket depends on its availability.
Divya Darshan is a darshan service which is meant for pedestrians. Many pilgrims trek through Alipiri and Srivari Mettu footpath route and reach Tirupati Balaji Temple on foot itself. Divya Darshan service provides these pedestrians with many facilities along the way. The pilgrims get free bus facility from railway station to Alipiri or Srivari Mattu, free luggage counter at Alipiri, free accommodation at Pilgrim Amenities Complex (PAC), free tonsuring, free darshan, and free meals.
Divya Darshan token are available round the clock at Galigorpuram footpath and from 05:00 a.m. to 06:00 p.m. at Srivari Mettu footpath.
Senior citizens above the age of 65, Specially Abled persons, and people with a history of surgery are allowed Darshan for free of cost. The tickets are available near VQC-2, Tirumala at “Senior Citizen/Specially Abled Person Ticket Issue Counter.”
The booking starts every day at 7 am and valid ID proofs and medical certificates are required to issue the ticket. It is to be noted that pilgrims who avail under Senior Citizen and Specially Abled cannot avail again for the next 90 days.
Darshan Tickets for Tirupati Balaji Temple can be booked both online and offline.
Online booking : Booking Darshan Tickets online is a good option where you won’t have to stay in long queues. Online booking will make your visit to the temple extremely convenient.
You can book at least 60 days in advance from the quota availability.
For online booking, visit www.ttdsevaonline.com
Offline booking : Offline booking can be done via e-darshan counters, current booking counters, and post offices.
Among these, you can book in advance from e-darshan counters which are present in most parts of Andhra Pradesh and even outside Andhra Pradesh.
Here is the list of all e-darshan counters.
Current booking is done through counters that are present in Tirupati.