A temple of Lord Balaji in Mumbai and a similar shrine in Puducherry would soon be built by Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, which manages the famous hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara temple at nearby Tirumala.
TTD Board Chairman K Bapiraju told reporters today that the Maharashtra government has come forward to allot 16 acres of land worth about Rs 200 crore in Navi Mumbai for the purpose.
The Puducherry government too has agreed to TTD's appeal to construct a replica of Lord Venkateswara temple on two acre of prime land in the Union Territory, he said.
Bapiraju said TTD has already started building a massive Lord Sri Balaji shrine in Kurukshetra in Haryana and another temple of Lord Venateswara on a five acre site close to the Vivekananda Rock Memorial in Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu.
As part of strengthening security on the sacred hills and at several shrines run by TTD in Tirupati and surrounding areas, TTD has decided to purchase 1,750 surveillance cameras at a cost of Rs 69 crore.
Technology major HCL has recently offered Rs five crore to TTD to meet the expenses in buying the cameras, while many more were ready to make donations for the purpose and also for construction of temples in Mumbai and Puducherry, he said.
