TTD to provide 30,000 laddus to Chennai centre for sale

Chennai, Aug 30 (UNI) The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), which administers the famous hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara, will provide 30,000 'laddus' from next month for sale to public at the TTD Information Centre here.

Talking to reporters here today after assuming office as the TTD Local Advisory Committee President, Mr K Ananda Kumar Reddy said the laddus would be sold to devotees at Rs 25 per piece.

He said 15,000 laddus each would be sold on first Sunday and third Saturday of every month.

''Hitherto, we have been selling only about 10,000 laddus on first Sunday. The stock gets exhausted quickly and several devotees are disappointed,'' he said.

Citing the increasing demand for the laddus, the Local Advisory Committee requested the TTD Executive Board in Tirumala to allot more laddus.

The Executive Board had given its approval for 30,000 laddus for TTD Information Centre here, Mr Reddy added.

He said apart from this, about 15,000 to 20,000 laddus would be sold for devotees on all Saturdays during the auspicious Tamil Month of ''Purattaasi'' (September 17 to October 16).

Earlier, the re-constituted Local Advisory Committee members assumed office, amid recital of vedic hymns.

The members were presented silk shawls brought from Tirumala that contained the images of Lord Balaji.

Mr Reddy said the main objective of the new committee was to ensure hassle free darshan for devotees thronging the temple here.

''About 40,000 to 50,000 people would visit the temple here on Saturdays. The crowd may cross the one lakh mark on new year day.

We want to ensure that devotees have hassle free darshan within ten to 15 minutes, without waiting long in queues,'' he added.

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