The ideal of providing a “one-hour free darshan” (Sarva Darshan) remains an elusive dream for many ordinary pilgrims. While the TTD administration has been in place for nearly two years, many feel that significant improvements in the darshan system have yet to materialize. On peak days and holidays, the queue wait times can extend to several hours, causing immense hardship for families traveling with young children and the elderly. Although the intent of the free darshan system is to provide equal opportunity to all, its practical execution requires better coordination and expanded infrastructure to handle the massive daily influx of devotees.
Digital divide and transparency are major hurdles for the rural and less tech-savvy population. Currently, the ₹300 Special Entry Darshan tickets are released online three months in advance and vanish within minutes, leaving many disappointed. The total reliance on online quotas has alienated those without high-speed internet or digital literacy. Devotees are calling for the revival of “e-Darshan” counters in district centers and the introduction of more offline token slots to ensure a fairer distribution of access. Furthermore, there is a growing demand for transparency in the allocation of VIP and recommendation quotas to dispel public misconceptions about favoritism.
Administrative instability has also been identified as a factor hindering long-term reforms. With three different Executive Officers (EOs) serving in just the last year and a half, the continuity of infrastructure projects and policy reforms has been affected. For a spiritual institution of this scale, stable leadership is essential to implement data-driven crowd management and expand accommodation facilities. To improve the pilgrim experience, authorities need to focus on expanding the time-slot token system for free darshan and ensuring that the reforms initiated by one administration are carried through to completion by the next.
