Tirumala February 12, 2014: The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) has resolved to enhance the number of devotees participating in the ‘Parakamani’ (process of counting the offerings made in the temple hundi) seva from the existing 80 to 120 persons every day. The decision would come into force from February 16.

The Parakamani seva is a voluntary service introduced at the hill temple to make use of the services of various professionals in sorting out currency, coins, gold ornaments, precious stones and others being offered by the visiting devotees in the Tirumala temple hundi.

The daily average offering is over Rs.2.50 crore cash besides gold, silver and other precious ornaments.

With an aim to accelerate the counting process and bring in more aptness, the TTD had introduced the Parakamani seva in the month of August, 2012 and declared that devotees associated with banks, either working or retired, would be given preference.

The scheme proved an instant hit with thousands of devotees registering their names online.

The fact that over 8,000 devotees so far have rendered services under the scheme in 156 batches during the past eighteen months acknowledges its success. Furthermore, hundreds of devotees have repeatedly participated in the process terming it a service to none other than the Almighty. While a majority of the ‘sevakulu’ hailed from within the State, the neighbouring States of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala followed the rankings.

To further alleviate the burgeoning reserves of soiled notes and foreign currency at its coffers, the TTD has decided to not only enhance the number of ‘sevakulu’ participating in the voluntary service, but also utilise their services at Tirupati.

It was against this backdrop that the management appealed to the devotees to make note of the change and register online on the TTDs website for the seva.