In a tragic turn of events, a stampede at the token distribution counters for the Vaikuntha Ekadasi festival left six devotees dead and over 40 injured on Wednesday evening. The incident occurred near Vishnu Nivasam in Tirupati, as thousands of devotees gathered for tokens to attend the annual darshan at Lord Venkateswara Swamy temple in Andhra Pradesh.
Despite arrangements for distributing 1,20,000 tokens across 94 counters, chaos erupted at the MGM High School counter in Bairagipatteda. By evening, the surging crowd became unmanageable, leading to pushing and jostling. The situation escalated when a gate was opened to aid an unwell woman, triggering a rush that spiraled into a deadly stampede.
Tirupati Municipal Commissioner N. Moruya stated that around 4,000-5,000 devotees had gathered at the counter from Wednesday morning, overwhelming the setup. The Tirupati Collector confirmed that it took approximately 15 minutes to evacuate the crowd and bring the situation under control.
The Vaikuntha Ekadasi festival, scheduled for January 10-12, allows devotees to access the northern entrance of the temple for darshan. The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) had prepared extensively for the token distribution, but the massive turnout outstripped their expectations.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences, stating, “My thoughts are with those who lost their near and dear ones.” Rahul Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, urged Congress workers to assist the victims, while Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu described the incident as “deeply disturbing.”
This festival, which draws millions of devotees annually, has now been overshadowed by a preventable tragedy, raising concerns over crowd management and safety measures at large-scale religious events.
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