A stampede broke out at the Lord Venkateswara temple in Tirupati on Wednesday evening, killing six devotees and injuring over 30 others. The incident occurred while the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) was distributing tokens for the Vaikuntha Dwara Sarva Darshan event, which offers a special darshan of Lord Venkateswara.
The chaos unfolded around 8 p.m. as TTD officials began issuing tokens at multiple centres, including Vishnu Nivasam, Srinivasam, and Padmavati Park. The stampede occurred at two locations after the gates were opened to allow an unwell devotee to exit the queue. This led to a surge of people, many of whom had been waiting since early morning, resulting in severe overcrowding and panic.
Mallika, a devotee from Salem, Tamil Nadu, succumbed to her injuries while being rushed to Ruia Hospital in Tirupati. Three others died during treatment at Ruia Hospital, and two more passed away at SVIMS. Authorities fear the death toll could rise, as some of the injuries are critical.
Eyewitnesses have pointed to inadequate crowd management as a major factor. “Even four police personnel were not present when the gate was opened. Thousands of people who had been waiting for hours rushed forward to collect their tokens,” one survivor said. Another devotee at Padmavati Park criticized the token distribution process, suggesting that the tragedy could have been avoided had the post-COVID system, which had better crowd control measures, been implemented.
Vaikuntha Dwara Sarva Darshan is a significant religious event, drawing lakhs of devotees who seek a glimpse of the divine gates of heaven (Vaikuntha). The event is particularly crowded during the Vaikuntha Ekadashi festival, when the number of devotees can exceed 2-3 lakh. TTD had planned to distribute tokens through 94 counters across nine centres for the event, scheduled for January 10-12. However, the sudden influx of devotees overwhelmed the system, leading to the stampede.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu expressed his shock over the tragedy, stating that he was in constant touch with district and TTD officials. He instructed senior officials to visit the site and ensure the injured receive the best possible care.
