Yogi Adityanath offers prayers at Tirumala temple, enquires about pilgrim facilities

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath offered prayers at the hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara in Tirumala on Monday. He was accompanied by Andhra Pradesh Ministers Satya Kumar Yadav and P. Narayana, along with other BJP leaders.

The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) authorities received Mr. Adityanath and escorted him to the temple for darshan. During his visit, he enquired with TTD Additional Executive Officer Venkaiah Chowdary about the daily pilgrim turnout and the facilities being provided to devotees.

The discussions also touched upon the TTD's Nitya Annadanam scheme, under which more than 1.5 lakh devotees are provided free meals every day in Tirumala and Tirupati.

Mr. Adityanath proceeded through the Vaikuntam Queue Complex for darshan, along with other pilgrims. His arrival drew slogans of "Jai Sri Ram" and "Bharat Mata Ki Jai" from devotees waiting in the queues. The slogans grew louder as he emerged from the temple after darshan, with pilgrims vying to photograph him on their mobile phones.

Earlier in the morning, Mr. Adityanath arrived at Tirupati airport and proceeded to Venkatachalam in neighbouring Nellore district, where he attended the silver jubilee celebrations of the Swarna Bharat Trust, founded by former Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu. He later returned to Tirupati and proceeded to Tirumala for darshan. After offering prayers, he drove down to Tirupati airport.