Tirupati Temple: Facial recognition system for darshan from today

Pilgrims visiting Tirupati's Lord Venkateswara temple from across the globe would now be recognised with the help of facial recognition system at the time of entrance. The system will be implemented in the temple from Wednesday. With this, it would be easier for the management to handle large number of devotees and curb the misuse of temple service.

The information of the beginning of the service was given by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), an independent trust that manages the temple, on its official website. The new system will help the temple authorities in bringing transparency in darshan and accommodation allotment.

"TTD set to introduce Facial Recognition Technology on an experimental basis at Vaikuntham 2 and AMS systems from March 1 onwards. The idea is to enhance transparency in tokenless darshan and Accommodation allotment systems providing more effective services to the multitude of visiting pilgrims," the website read.

Also Read: This Indian state bans mobile phones inside temple premises

People often take more tokens at ‘Sarva Darshan Complex and caution deposit from refund counters’. The implementation of the new service will help in limiting such incidences. As of now, Tirumala has the capacity to accommodate more than 7,000 visitors, out of which 1,000 accommodations are reserved whereas the rest will be given to regular visitors.

The service has been initiated on an experimental basis at sarva darshanam, tokenless darshan (holy visit), laddu disbursal, accommodation allotment systems, caution deposit refunds and others.

The chief vigilance and security officer of the temple, D Narasimha Kishore, also informed that every pilgrim visiting the shrine will be photographed at the entry point while enrolling. The clicked photo will then be matched with the data bank for averting impersonation and services misuse. Once a pilgrim visits the temple for the first time, after the facial recognition service implementation, he will be easily identified by the system during next visit.

"When he (pilgrim) enters the temple a second time, the man will be cross-checked with facial recognition. When he stands before the camera and his image is captured, it will be sent to the data (bank) and compared if the same ticket is matched, then he will be allowed. Else it will attract (charges of) impersonation," Kishore said.

Other benefits of the system includes finding a missing person's trail in the temple complex, ending impersonation, and swift verification of devotees and others. The full implementation of the system will make the visitors of Tirumala under the surveillance of 3,000 cameras.

(With agency inputs)