Tirupati Stampede: Overcrowding and Poor Management Lead to Tragedy

Two days before the Vaikuntha Ekadasi festival at the Lord Venkateswara Swamy temple in Andhra Pradesh’s Tirumala Hills, chaos erupted as thousands of devotees gathered at over 90 token distribution counters.

The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), which manages the temple operations, had arranged to distribute 1,20,000 free darshan (“sarva darshan”) tokens for the first three days of the festival, scheduled from January 10 to 12. Although the token distribution was set to begin at 5 a.m. on Thursday, massive crowds started assembling the previous night at counters spread across various locations, including Vishnu Nivasam, Srinivasam, and Bhudevi complexes.

Despite having 94 counters in place, including those at Satyanarayanapuram, Bairagipatteda, and Ramanaidu School, the situation spiraled out of control, especially at the MGM High School counter in Bairagipatteda. According to Tirupati Municipal Commissioner N Moruya, around 4,000-5,000 devotees had gathered at the school by Wednesday morning, and the crowd became unruly by evening, resulting in pushing and jostling.

TTD Chairman BR Naidu revealed that the chaos intensified when a gate was opened to assist a woman feeling unwell, causing the crowd to surge forward uncontrollably. The lack of adequate crowd management led to a stampede late Wednesday evening. Tragically, at least six devotees lost their lives, and over 40 were injured.

Tirupati Collector S Venkateswar noted that it took approximately 15 minutes to evacuate the area and bring the situation under control.

The Vaikuntha Ekadasi festival, a significant annual event, allows devotees to access the northern entrance of the temple for darshan. However, this year’s event was marred by the unfortunate tragedy.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences, stating his thoughts were with those who lost loved ones. Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi urged Congress workers to assist those affected, while Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu conveyed his grief, describing the incident as deeply disturbing.

“The stampede near Vishnu Nivasam in Tirupati for darshan tokens is a deeply tragic incident. My heartfelt condolences go out to the families of those who lost their lives,” Chandrababu Naidu said in a statement.