Tirumala shrine closed after unprecedented heavy rains

Chittoor: Due to unprecedented heavy showers, the Sri Venkateswara Temple of Tirumala in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh closed on Friday, The News Minute (TNM) reported. As the temple is surrounded by seven hills and the shrine is located on the peak of the seventh one, Venkatadri, the rainwater directly flowed into the shrine, and the inundated premises forced authorities to pump out water.

The Chairman of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) told TNM that they had informed devotees that the temple would be closed, but the situation is better at the moment. All the ghat roads are closed due to landslides and flooding, and TTD had announced the closures of these roads for two days. In Tirupati, the electricity supply was disrupted due to the showers since 3 pm on Thursday. The inundated roads turned into rivers with heavy water rush. Vehicles were reportedly submerged and washed away, the videos of which were shared online.

The footpath to Tirumala, Alipiri, was flooded on Thursday and water rushed downhill through it. TTD had announced the closure of Alipiri and Srivarimettlu for two days, given the heavy rains forecast. The Vaikuntam Queue Complex at Tirumala was also affected, with water entering into the complex's cellar while TTD Additional Executive Dharma Reddy's house was also flooded.

The highway that connects Tirupati and Kadapa district was also cut off due to floods.