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Tirupati Darshan Booking 2026: the ₹300 Ticket, Free Darshan, Release Dates and Rooms

Every way into the Tirumala temple, what each costs, and the exact day and hour TTD opens it online. Built from TTD's own release schedule for January 2027 and this season's news reports, with the gaps marked.

Photo: Nikhilb239, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Text added by Trip Under.

Tirumala gets 70,000 to 80,000 pilgrims on an ordinary day, and most of the stress of the trip comes from one thing: not knowing which ticket to get and when it opens. This guide lists every way in, what it costs, and the day and hour TTD released each one last month.

How we worked it out. TTD (Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams) publishes each month's release schedule on its news site; we used the one for January 2027, announced on 17 October 2026. The booking portal itself could not be read by our tools, so where a rule is reported only by news, we name the paper and date, and where we found nothing current we say so. TTD can change any of this; its helpline is 155257. This is a travel guide, not a religious authority.

Every way to get darshan at Tirumala

When TTD opens each quota: the monthly release calendar

TTD opens each month's tickets about three months in advance, over a few days in the third week of the month. This is the schedule it followed for January 2027, all in October 2026. The February 2027 schedule had not been announced when we checked on 4 November; going by the pattern it should follow in the second half of November, but wait for TTD's notice.

How to book the ₹300 Special Entry Darshan

1. Note the release. Watch TTD's news site in the third week of the month for the schedule. Last time the ₹300 quota opened at 10 am on the 24th.
2. Register the day before on ttdevasthanams.ap.gov.in with your mobile number, so you are not creating an account at 10 am while the quota goes.
3. Have each pilgrim's photo ID ready. Aadhaar is the ID TTD asks for across its other services in 2026; we could not read the portal's current list for this ticket, so check it when you log in.
4. At 10 am, pick the date and time slot and pay. Weekends, holidays and festival days go first.
5. Book your room at 3 pm the same day, in the same account.
6. Print or save the ticket and carry the same ID to the temple. Reach the queue complex at the time printed on the ticket.

TTD has said it has not changed the ₹300 price or the laddu prices. The daily number of ₹300 tickets is not published in anything we could find for 2026. During last season's Vaikuntha Dwara darshan (2 to 8 January 2026) there were 15,000 a day.

Free darshan: SSD tokens and the open queue

• Free Slotted Sarva Darshan (SSD) tokens are handed out at three counters in Tirupati town: Srinivasam, Vishnu Nivasam and Bhudevi Complex. They are normally issued the afternoon before the darshan day (Deccan Chronicle, 29 July 2026, when TTD suspended them for one day). Carry your Aadhaar.
• No token? You can still join the free queue at Tirumala. On Sunday 1 November 2026, with 77,010 pilgrims, the wait without a token was 4 to 6 hours; on 3 November it was about 6 hours (TTD). In the 2026 summer rush it reached 24 to 30 hours.
• Footpath walkers used to get a separate free Divya Darshan token. Under the rules last confirmed in 2024, tokens were issued at Bhudevi Complex and had to be scanned at step 2,083 on the Alipiri path or step 1,200 on the Srivari Mettu path. We could not confirm the 2026 status: one recent travel guide says only Srivari Mettu tokens are being issued. Ask at Bhudevi Complex before you start the climb.

SRIVANI, senior citizens and the other quotas

• SRIVANI trust darshan: a donation to TTD's Sri Venkateswara Alayala Nirmanam trust plus a darshan ticket. Since 9 January 2026, 800 same-day tickets go online every day from 9 am to 2 pm, for darshan at 4 pm that day, one family of up to four per booking, with Aadhaar and a mobile number. That is on top of 500 a day booked in advance online. We did not find the current donation amount in an official 2026 source, so check it on the portal.
• Senior citizens, differently-abled and chronically ill devotees get a free darshan quota, released online at 3 pm on about the 23rd, three months ahead. Check the eligibility rules (age, proof) on the portal when you book.
• Arjitha sevas such as Suprabhatham are allotted by an electronic lucky dip: you register in a two-day window and winners pay within two days.
• Angapradakshinam tokens open at 10 am on about the 23rd. TTD's dress code for it: dhoti with an upper cloth for men; saree, half-saree or churidar with dupatta for women.

Rooms at Tirumala

Rooms at Tirumala and Tirupati are released online at 3 pm on about the 24th, three months ahead, a few hours after the ₹300 tickets. If you could not book, TTD allots rooms on the day at its Central Reception Office (CRO) on the hill. The rules since July 2026 (Deccan Chronicle, 19 July 2026):

• Register at the CRO from 5 am with Aadhaar; TTD uses face recognition.
• Rooms at ₹50, ₹100 and ₹1,000.
• The applicant must be 21 or older. Rooms are not given to single people.
• One allotment per person in 30 days.
• The room number comes by SMS; collect the key at one of 18 sub-enquiry offices.
• Rent doubles after 24 hours and quadruples after 48.

Tirupati town below has ordinary hotels if the hill is full, and our Tirupati route counts about ₹2,500 for two days from Bengaluru or Chennai, including the overnight bus or train both ways.

Vaikuntha Ekadasi 2026: what we know

Vaikuntha Ekadasi falls around 20 December 2026. As of 4 November 2026, TTD had not announced the Vaikuntha Dwara darshan dates, the token system or the quotas. Last season is the best guide to what to expect:

• Vaikuntha Dwara darshan ran from 30 December 2025 to 8 January 2026.
• There were no offline tokens. Devotees registered for an electronic dip from 27 November to 1 December, and the draw was on 2 December.
• The first three days were for dip winners only; ₹300 and SRIVANI tickets were cancelled on those days.
• From 2 to 8 January there were 15,000 ₹300 tickets and 1,000 SRIVANI tickets a day, booked on TTD's website, app and WhatsApp.

Rules at the temple

• Phones: not allowed during darshan. Deposit them at the counters before you enter.
• Footwear, caps, turbans, hats and helmets are not allowed inside, and flowers are not to be worn.
• Smoking and intoxicants are banned everywhere on Tirumala, including the footpaths.
• Drones, smart glasses and recording devices are prohibited; TTD filed a case over reels shot in front of the temple in October 2026.
• Weapons must be declared at the Alipiri check.
• Laddu: one free laddu per devotee with Aadhaar; extra laddus have been ₹50 each (TTD, 2024). Buy them only at TTD counters.

Getting to Tirupati

Tirupati station (TPTY) is in town, and Renigunta Junction (RU) is about 10 km away with more long-distance trains. Tirupati airport (TIR) is at Renigunta. From Bengaluru or Chennai, take an overnight bus or train of about six hours, arrive early and catch a TTD or APSRTC bus up the ghat road to Tirumala. Women travel free on APSRTC buses under the Andhra Pradesh Stree Shakti scheme; check whether the hill route is covered when you board.

Frequently asked questions

Sources and how we priced this

• Release schedule: TTD, January darshan and seva online quota release schedule (news.tirumala.org, 17 Oct 2026); Hans India, TTD January quota tickets release (18 Oct 2026).
• Free darshan and waits: Deccan Chronicle, issuing of SSD tokens suspended (29 Jul 2026); Deccan Chronicle, Tirumala sees 77,010 pilgrims on Sunday (2 Nov 2026); TTD darshan updates (news.tirumala.org, 4 Nov 2026); Deccan Chronicle, summer rush (2026); ETV Bharat, waiting time cut (5 May 2026).
• SRIVANI: TTD, online current booking of SRIVANI tickets from 9 January (news.tirumala.org, Jan 2026); Deccan Chronicle, SRIVANI ticketing moved online (Jan 2026) and vigilance probe on bulk booking (2026).
• Rooms: Deccan Chronicle, TTD eases Tirumala accommodation allotment (19 Jul 2026). Prices: Deccan Chronicle, no change in SED and laddu rates (2024).
• Vaikuntha Ekadasi 2025–26 arrangements: DT Next, TTD scraps offline tokens for Vaikuntha Dwara darshan (Nov 2025). Divya Darshan token scanning: Deccan Chronicle (2024).
• Rules: tirumala.org, Dos and Don'ts (accessed 4 Nov 2026); TTD notices on smoking (16 Aug 2026) and recording devices (27 Oct 2026); ETV Bharat, phone counters and re-entry (May 2026). Step counts: TTD signboard (Srivari Mettu) and our Tirupati route page (Alipiri).

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Costs come from Trip Under's place data and our cost model (see methodology). They are indicative ballparks for budget travel and move with season and demand. Check live bus, train and room prices before you book. Trip Under is reader-planned, not an agency, and takes no commission on any booking.