A battery-powered Automatic Moving Platform (AMP) that can carry 12 at a time may be pressed into service within 2 months at the Balaji temple in Tirumala.
Tirupati is one of India's most visited pilgrimage site, with roughly 50,000 devotees of the lord Sri Venkateswara visiting the temple on the hill Tirumala every day.
The temple is crowded all year round, and quite often, devotees are unable to get a darshan of the Lord even though the temple is open for 18 hours on normal days and for 20 hours during days of religious significance.
Also, much jostling, shouldering and elbowing takes place inside the temple, and one finds it difficult to pay homage to the Lord in peace.
The answer to such problems, says Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) Executive Officer Krishna Rao, is a battery-powered Automatic Moving Platform (AMP). This platform can carry 12 people at a time, and will allow a smooth and peaceful darshan of the Lord, he explained.
Krishna Rao on Thursday inspected the machine, and participated in the test run of the moving platform on Thursday, and stated that the AMPs would be pressed into service within 2 months.
It has been reported that an average of 80 devotees can avail themselves of the darshan if the AMPs are used.
However, Krishna Rao clarified that the AMPs would be used only when there is an influx of devotees, and not on a daily basis.