Tirupati: Tirumala Hills have been teeming with devotees over the long weekend, with the temple town witnessing a massive surge of pilgrims from Friday in the wake of consecutive holidays.

The influx began from the early hours of Friday and swelled further on Saturday and Sunday, resulting in extraordinary crowding at the shrine of Lord Venkateswara. Sarvadarshan pilgrims have been enduring waiting times of nearly 36 hours for darshan, as Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) struggled to manage the heavy turnout.

The back-to-back holidays – Independence Day on Friday, followed by Krishnashtami on Saturday and the regular Sunday rush – triggered an unprecedented inflow of devotees. All 31 compartments of the Vaikuntam Queue Complex were packed to capacity, forcing the formation of external queues stretching up to three kilometres. On Saturday alone, 87,759 pilgrims had darshan, while Hundi collections touched Rs 4.16 crore.

Accommodation shortages left several pilgrims resting in sheds, office premises, German sheds, beneath trees, and even on pavements. Meanwhile, the Kalyanakatta centres, where devotees offer tonsure, also saw a heavy rush, with over 42,000 pilgrims taking part on Saturday. Tirumala’s temple precincts, mada streets, Akhilandam, laddu counters, Annaprasadam halls, Lepakshi and Rambhageecha junctions were all packed with devotees.

To cope with the unprecedented rush, TTD arranged for drinking water, milk, tea and Annaprasadam in the queue lines, with Srivari Sevaks assisting in distribution. Officials were seen continuously monitoring queue management across the queue lines taking care of the pilgrims amenities.

Demand for Srivani tickets also shot up sharply, with 3–4 times more devotees vying for the 800 tickets allotted per day. Similarly, Slotted Sarva Darshan (SSD) token counters at Bhudevi Complex, Vishnu Nivasam and Srinivasam in Tirupati witnessed long queues from early Sunday, with pilgrims waiting for hours to secure their tokens. However, it appears that from Sunday evening, the rush was gradually receding.

Despite the surging numbers, TTD has appealed to devotees to cooperate with staff and volunteers, assuring that all possible arrangements are being made to ease the pilgrim experience.