3 Devotees Reach Tirumala Temple’s Main Entrance With Footwear On, Spark Outrage | Video – News18

Last Updated:April 12, 2025, 23:48 IST

A video of the incident went viral on the social media platforms, where three men outside “Mahadwaram”, the main entrance of the temple can be seen removing their footwear.

Devotees removing their footwear at the Mahadwaram (X)

Slippers In Tirupati Temple: The Tirupati Balaji temple in Andhra Pradesh has once again hit the headlines after an incident wherein three devotees reached the main entrance of the Lord Venkateswara Swamy shrine with their footwear on.

A video of the incident went viral on the social media platforms, where three men outside “Mahadwaram”, the main entrance of the temple can be seen removing their footwear after a security official asked them to do so. The three men obliged and took off their slippers at the insistence of the guard as other devotees in the queue passed by them.

As per the media reports, the three devotees, who had reportedly purchased the Srivani tickets for darshan, made their way to the Mahadwaram, crossing two security barriers in the Vaikuntam Queue Complex, raising concerns over the alleged security lapse.

Generally, devotees are supposed to remove their footwear at the very first entrance of the shrine.

Incident Sparks Outrage

The incident has sparked outrage, with opposition party YSRCP condemning the incident, levelling serious allegations of mismanagement and security lapses at the temple.

The party asserted that it was a failure of the vigilance and security teams.

“TTD’s vigilance laxity exposed once again in Tirumala Devotees who reached the main gate of the Srivari temple wearing sandals,” the party said in a post on X.

The incident has also led to widespread criticism of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) administration, with many netizens questioning the temple’s security and vigilance standards. The devotees have also demanded stricter enforcement of rules to protect the sanctity of the sacred temple.

Earlier Controversies

Recently, the temple trust made the headlines after YSRCP leader Bhumana Karunakar Reddy  alleged that several cows at the TTD gosala have died due to negligence by the NDA-led coalition government in Andhra Pradesh.

Speaking to the media, the YSRCP leader had claimed that over 100 cows have died in the past three months due to poor care and mismanagement. “This number is based only on what has come to our notice, the actual figure could be higher,” he had said.

In response, TTD dismissed Bhumana’s claims and labelled them as false and misleading. “TTD strongly condemns the spread of false information intended to mislead devotees and the public. We request the devotees not to believe false news,” the TTD said in a post on X.

Earlier in September last year, a controversy had erupted after Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu alleged that the Tirupati prasadam laddus, given to devotees as offerings, had been adulterated with animal fat during the YRSCP government’s tenure, a claim rejected by the party.

Location :

Tirumala, India, India