Book your Tirumala pilgrimage online
RTC, railway tickets to be part of the 'spiritual package' soon
Darshan, travel can be booked through 'e-darshan'
1 TTD, SCR working overtime to launch package by Jan. 1
Tirupati, Dec4,The Hindu

Planning a visit to the abode of Lord Venkates-wara? You don't have to stand in queues to book travel and descend here only to find similar serpentine queue lines for darshan.
Darshan as well as travel (including return journey) can be booked through a single window called 'e-dar-shan'. Welcome to the TTD's online booking system that allows one to reserve general darshan, special sevas, accommodation and now travel.
Overcoming the initial hiccups, the system has started gaining acceptance among the masses and is increasingly being used by common devotees from across the country to book their trip. According to official sources, 35 per cent of the advanced and current bookings registered with the TTD are through the 48 e-darshan counters located across the country. Besides, 7200 devotees have already 'reserved' their darshan of the Lord on the auspicious "Vaikunta Ekadasi' (December 20) that bears testimony to the favourable response that the system is getting. Even the unlettered masses can book their trip as they are just required to pay a visit to their neighbourhood centre, where their thumb impression and photograph will be scanned by the system for verification during their visit.
Centres
The centres in the State includes all the district headquarters, besides Chirala, Srikalahasti, Naidupet, Puli-vendula, Siddipet, Tallapaka and Bhimavaram towns. Apart from the four metros, there are such centres in Vel-lore, Erode, Coimbatore, Salem and Rajapalayam (Tamil Nadu), Pune and Kolhapur (Maharashtra), Bhubanes-war, Bangalore and Kharag-pur. There is a great demand to open such centres in Man-galore, Bellary, Guruvayur, Srirangam, Kanchi, Tirutta-ni, Jamshedpur and Putta-parthi. While APSRTC counters are being set up in all the centres in Andhra Pra-desh to facilitate easy bus travel, it has also been proposed to start railway bookings on the premises. Similar to Internet railway bookings, the devotees are required to produce proof of their identity for reserving tickets.
Train reservation will most probably become part of this 'spiritual package' by January 1, 2008, as the TTD and South Central Railway officials are learnt to be slogging it out to launch it as a 'New year gift'.