Special darshan tickets at Arunachaleshwara temple will be increased to ₹100: HR&CE Minister

Minister for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) P.K. Sekar Babu on Thursday said that the existing special darshan ticket of ₹50 at Arunachaleshwara temple in Tiruvannamalai town will be doubled soon to enable the department to provide more civic amenities to visiting devotees.

Accompanied by Minister for Public Works and Highways E.V. Velu and Collector K. Tharpagaraj, Mr. Babu inspected temple premises and Mada streets in the town. He also interacted with devotees on the existing civic amenities and safety arrangements available in the temple and 14-km-long Girivalam path.

“As most of the devotees are from neighbouring States like Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, special darshan tickets will be increased to ₹100 soon. More time will be given for devotees for darshan at the temple,” he said.

Among civic amenities, the Minister said that additional water taps and seating arrangements for senior citizens and persons with disabilities will be set up in the temple premises. Also, digital boards will be installed at various spots in the temple to provide timing of special poojas for devotees.

A special arena with a seating capacity of 2,000 persons for those devotees with special darshan tickets will be made soon to allow them for hassle-free worship. “Steps to construct additional accommodation facilities for pilgrims are also underway. Land near Raja Gopuram of the temple has been identified to build a waiting hall for devotees at a cost of Rs 1.97 crore. Work will commence soon,” he said.

The Minister said that more queues will be formed in free darshan to allow more devotees to visit the temple. Special queue will be in place for senior citizens and pregnant women to have darshan easily. Also, additional battery-run cars will be operated to help persons with disabilities to move around inside the temple.