Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam Priest Srinivasacharyulu Dies Due To COVID-19

TIRUPATI: A priest of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam ((TTD) who manages the famous hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara Swamy at nearby Tirumala, succumbed to COVID-19 on Thursday, August 6. Srinivasacharyulu, 45, died due to coronavirus.

According to reports, the priest began to suffer with COVID-19 symptoms for the past few days and underwent COVID-19 tests in a hospital where he tested positive for coronavirus earlier this week. Following which, he was admitted to a COVID-19 care facility at Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences (SVIMS). He faced difficulty with breathing and died at the hospital while undergoing treatment on Thursday evening.
 
The TTD board said that the priest Srinivasacharyulu was recently posted at the ancient shrine. He was posted in Tirumala on deputation from Sri Govindarajaswamy Temple.

One of the former chief priests of Tirumala Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple, Peddinti Srinivasamurthy Deekshitulu died of coronavirus on July 20.

The Tirumala temple remained close for darshan for the two and a half months during COVID-19 induced lockdown. The famous hill shrine started facilitating darshan for devotees from June 11. At least 170 TTD staff, including senior Pontiff of TTD Pedda Jeeyar Swamy Mutt and 16 priests were infected by COVID-19 so far.