A Bengaluru-based devotee made a generous offering of ₹1 crore to the Sri Venkateswara Annaprasadam Trust, which is administered by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD).
On Wednesday, Kalyan Raman Krishnamurthy visited the Tirumala temple with his family, offered prayers to Lord Venkateswara, and handed over the donation in the form of a demand draft to TTD Additional Executive Officer Ch Venkaiah Chowdary, Times of India reported.
In a separate act of devotion, another Bengaluru resident, KM Srinivasa Murthy, donated a diamond-studded golden Lakshmi Pathakam valued at ₹25 lakh to the TTD.
The TTD Executive Officer thanked both devotees for their generous contributions, which will support the temple’s charitable and spiritual initiatives, the report further added.
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TTD to adopt AI and facial recognition
In May, shortly after announcing plans to deploy anti-drone technology to boost security at the Tirumala temple, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Trust Board revealed its intention to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) and facial recognition systems to streamline pilgrim management and improve the overall darshan experience.
TTD Executive Officer J Syamala Rao had stated that these advanced technologies would help verify genuine pilgrims, prevent impersonation and fraudulent bookings, and ease operations such as access control, accommodation, and other logistical aspects of the pilgrimage.
{{/usCountry}}TTD Executive Officer J Syamala Rao had stated that these advanced technologies would help verify genuine pilgrims, prevent impersonation and fraudulent bookings, and ease operations such as access control, accommodation, and other logistical aspects of the pilgrimage.
{{/usCountry}}“TTD envisioned adopting the latest technological solutions available in the market, including Artificial Intelligence, to improve the overall pilgrimage,” Rao said in an official statement.
Under this initiative, time-slotted darshan tokens will be issued to pilgrims, using facial recognition to capture and store their biometric data. According to a report by PTI, once a pilgrim's image is captured, it will be cross-referenced with data from the past 30 days or against a database of about 10 lakh images to eliminate duplicate bookings and ensure better access for more devotees.