Overview
- In the early hours of December 30, the Paramapada/Vaikunta gateways opened at Tirumala, Srirangam, Triplicane and other shrines, drawing heavy turnouts of devotees.
- Tirumala began a 10‑day Vaikunta Dwara Darshan from December 30 to January 8, with the first three days limited to pre‑issued Sarva Darshan tokens and walk‑in darshan allowed from January 2 to 8.
- TTD targeted about 70,000 darshans on Ekadashi, deployed roughly 3,000 police personnel, advised devotees to carry Aadhaar with printed e‑dip tokens, and mapped slot‑wise entry routes to the queue complex.
- The new e‑dip random allotment handled token distribution transparently, with 92,221 of 11.53 lakh Andhra Pradesh applicants and 49,127 of 6.08 lakh Telangana applicants selected, reflecting an 8–12% allotment rate across states.
- To prioritise common devotees, paid tickets were suspended for the initial phase, pilgrim services and medical camps were expanded, Chenchu tribals received free sparsha darshan at Srisailam, and dignitaries visited Tirumala to offer prayers.