Despite the COVID-19 lockdown, devotees of Lord Venkateswara of the famous hill shrine at Tirumala will soon be able to receive the sacred 'laddu prasadams' at subsidized prices in Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad and all district headquarters in Andhra Pradesh, a top TTD functionary said here on Wednesday.
Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam Board Chairman Y V Subba Reddy said that thisfollowed repeated requests from devotees, who have been barredfrom darshan of Lord Venkateswara on the hills since March 20 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The date of arrival of the Tirupati Laddu in the respective places would be communicated in three days, he said, adding that devotees who wished to purchase more laddus for free distribution among other faithul in these TTDspecified regions could contact the Deputy Executive Officer on 9849575952 and Potu Peishkar on 9701092777.
The Laddu, which is priced at Rs 50 each, would be sold at subsidized price of Rs 25 as a token of gift to the devotees in the COVID-19 lockdown period, he said.
The laddus will be made available at TTD information centres and TTD marriage halls in these areas, he said.
Interestingly,e-hundi cash offerings by devotees fetched a record income of Rs1.97 crore in April this year against Rs 1.79 crore during the same month last year, an increase of Rs. 18 lakh, he said.
Reddy also categorically denied media reports and social media messages that TTD was facing a financial crunch and was unable to pay salaries to the TTD staff. He said salaries had been paid for the past two months and would be given for May and June also.
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