NEWS NOTES

The newly-constituted 11 member Trust Board of the TTD was sworn on July 20.

The board, constituted by the Government came into being after the TTD's Executive Officer, Dr. P. Krishnaiah, in his capacity as member secretary of the body administered the oath of office and secrecy to the Chairman, Pappala Chalapathi Rao, M.L.A., Visakapatnam and other members.

CHAIRMAN

Sri Pappala Chalapathi Rao, M.L.A.,

MEMBERS

Dr. Smt. Gogineni Uma, M.L.A.
Sri K. Jayaram, B.A., L.L.B., M.L.A.,
Sri G. Ganga Reddy, M.P. (Lok Sabha)
Smt. G. Sudha Rani
Sri Nandaram Suryanarayana
Sri Gownivari Srinivasulu
Sri V.R. Panchamukhi
Sri D.K. Audikesavulu
Sri D. Rama Naidu, M.P. (Lok Sabha)
Sri Manoj Kumar Sonthalia
Sri Ajeya Kallam, I.A.S.,
  Commissioner of Endowments
  Ex-Officio Member

Elaborate arrangements are under way for the annual Brahmotsavams of Lord Venkateswara, Tirumala, slated to begin on October 7. At a meeting with the TTD, APSRTC and police officials at the newly constructed Annamayya Bhavan on July 26, the TTD Executive Officer, Dr. P. Krishnaiah, directed the engineering officials to spruce up all the cottages and guest houses both at Tirumala and Tirupati, for the comfortable stay of the pilgrims.

'Sapthadwaralu' and other artistic arches shall be erected all along the four Mada streets, through which the procession of the Lord will pass. It was also decided to distribute free food packets to pilgrims in the massive Vaikuntam queue complex during the nine-day festival period.

Dr. P. Krishnaiah asked police officials, the TTD engineering and security and vigilance officials to chalk out a comprehensive plan and identify major slots for the parking of the tourist vehicles.

The APSRTC Tirumala depot manager, Sri Rangaiah, said the RTC would run additional buses between the Tirumala and Tirupati ghat roads. He said, the RTC would be running more than 100 special buses from across the State to Tirupati during the festival period. S;pecial auto clinics would ply on both the ghat roads to meet the requirements of the vehicular traffic.

A massive chassis for the Maharatham of Lord Venkateswara of Tirumala, designed and manufactured by the Ramachandrapuram unit of the Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), was handed over to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams on July, 20.

At a formal function here, Sri A.N. Jagadeeswaran, Executive Director, BHEL, said that it was a unique opportunity given to the BHEL unit to be associated with the divine work.

The chassis is a fabricated steel structure weighing 24 tonnes and will carry the wooden superstructure weighing 70 tonnes. Each wheel is 2500 mm thickness. The overall dimension of the chassis is six metres by five metres. It is fitted with a hydraulic braking system for safety and control of the Maharatham during the 'Rathotsavam' procession in which thousands of devotees participate.

The need to train TTD's vigilance and security personnel in the finer nuances of temple security and pilgrim safety was stressed by the TTD Executive Officer, Dr. P. Krishnaiah, on July 15.

Inaugurating the two-day workshop on 'Crime Prevention' organised under the aegis of TTD Employees Training Academy for the benefit of inhouse security and vigilance officials here. Dr. Krishnaiah said training in any profession for that matter and more so in security and vigilance related jobs must be a continuous process so as to help the staff concerned to keep themselves abreast of latest developments in the field and be fit to meet any exigency.

The Chittoor SP, Sri P. Ramanarayan, wanted the TTD to caution pilgrims on the probable places where they could be cheated by touts so that they could be saved from their contrivances.

The TTD Chief Vigilance and Security Officer, Sri K.R.M. Kishore Kumar, said similar training would be provided in the next batch to the rest of the security staff.

TTD established catering service in 1933 with a view to provide wholesome food at reasonable price to the devotees. Gradually the Devasthanams set up canteens both at Tirupati and Tirumala to meet the growing demands of the pilgrims who visit the sacred hill for darsn of the Lord of Seven Hills. Today the canteens serve thousands of devotees, giving them a delicious fare with quality meals.

With the introduction of Sri Venkateswara Nitya Annadana Scheme in 1985 the Devasthanams canteens started playing a key role in providing hygienic food to a large number of devotees. The scheme was launched with generous donations from the philanthropists, leading industrialists and general public. In 1994 a trust was formed with the Executive Officer as its chairman, Financial Advisor & Chief Accounts Officer, Joint Executive Officer (Tirumala) and Chief Accounts Officer as Trustees. An officer in the cadre of Deputy Executive Officer is its secretary. Under 80 G of the Income Tax Act, the donation to the Annadana scheme are exempted from income tax.

Over 25000 devotees are being fed daily under this scheme. The tokens for the free meals are distributed inside the temple to the devotees. The meals are served to the pilgrims at S.V. Canteen complex on production of these tokens. The quality of food provided under Sri Venkateswara Nithya Annadanam has been highly appreciated. The Devasthanam has taken special care to provide fine quality rice and other ingredients essential for the meals.

The sixtienth birthday of His Holiness Sri Sri Sri Sacchidananda Swamiji was celebrated on a grand scale at Avadhoota Datta peetham in Mysore from June 14 to 23, Thousands of devotees from India and abroad took part in the celebration, marked by great spiritual fervour and splendour. Every day special programmes were arranged. Sri Swamiji actively participated in the programmes and blessed the devotees. Former President Sri R. Venkataraman, president of the celebration committee, inaugurated the festival by lighting jyoti. On this occasion, Sri Sacchidananda Swamiji honoured people who are distinguished themselves in various fields. He gave darsan to his devotees on June, 29 coinciding with his birth star 'Hasta'. In the evening, a literary function was arranged in which renowned scholars and poets took part. After the release of 'Ashtottara sata namavali' on June 21, Sri Swamiji addressed a large gathering of devotees, In his speech, he stressed the role of guru in human development. He also explained the basic rules essential for a happy and peaceful living.

He honoured well-known scholars and poets on June 23, and released the cassette titled 'Sadguru Jyoti' written by Sri Kuppa Venkata Krishnamurthy.

A music programme by Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam Dharma Prachara Parishat was organised on 21-7-2002 at Sri Venkateswara Temple Duddebanda Village Smt. Suguna Rani, B.A., Bhagavatharini, All India Radio & Doordarshan artiste of Puttaparthi rendered 'Annamayya Keerthanalu' between 10-00 a.m. and 1.00 p.m. The programme was inaugurated by Sri C.V. Srinivasaiah, LAC Member, TTD Dharma Prachara Parishat, Bangalore. Sri Naganatha Sharma, Organiser, TTD Dharma Prachara Parishat, Anantapur was present and delivered a lecture on the ancient and present position of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam and its activities through TTD Dharma Prachara Parishat. Devotees from nearby villages participated in the programme in large numbers.