Tirumala serves three lakh free meals a day under TTD Annaprasadam scheme
Tirumala, the hill abode of Lord Venkateswara, serves nearly three lakh free portions of food every day to pilgrims visiting the temple town. In a
Tirumala, the hill abode of Lord Venkateswara, serves nearly three lakh free portions of food every day to pilgrims visiting the temple town. In a world where hunger is still a daily fact for millions, it is one of the largest free meal programmes anywhere. What began as the Nitya Annadanam scheme on April 6, 1985, has grown into a vast humanitarian enterprise under the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams’ (TTD) Sri Venkateswara Annaprasadam Trust. It stands as one of the defining pillars of the Tirumala pilgrimage, ensuring that every devotee receives wholesome food free of cost, in keeping with the old Indian adage “Annadanam-Mahadanam”.
The numbers convey the scale of the programme. Between January and May 2026, the TTD distributed more than 4.40 crore servings through its Annaprasadam network. May alone accounted for over 92 lakh servings, a measure of the influx of pilgrims to the temple town. Every day, around 70,000 devotees are served milk, tea and coffee, while more than 60,000 receive breakfast. Nearly one lakh pilgrims partake of lunch and another 56,000 are served dinner. The Matrusri Tarigonda Vengamamba Annaprasadam Complex alone serves over 82,000 meals daily, supported by the Akshaya Kitchen, the Vaikuntham Queue Complex, the Narayanagiri sheds and other distribution centres across Tirumala.
Behind the scenes, a large logistical operation unfolds each day. Nearly 15.8 tonnes of rice, 2,861 kg of pulses, 3,110 kg of edible oil, wheat products and other ingredients go into maintaining quality and consistency for lakhs of devotees. The TTD has also modernised to meet the rising demand. The Vakulamatha Centralised Kitchen, commissioned in 2024, extended food distribution to 28 more locations, while a new dining hall at PAC-5 can seat 1,500 devotees at a time. A fully automated satellite kitchen that can prepare meals for two lakh pilgrims a day is on the anvil.
With fixed deposits of over ₹2,460 crore, the Annaprasadam Trust has grown into far more than a charitable food programme. It is, in effect, an “Akshaya Patra” on the hill: an ever-flowing source of nourishment that feeds crores of devotees a year and a widely admired model of faith-driven public service.
The BriefWire