Fact Check: Srivari Mettu Margam to Tirumala temple is not a recent construction
Tirumala is a spiritual town in Tirupati district of Andhra Pradesh. Located atop the seven hills, Lord Venkateswara temple at Tirumala attracts lakhs of pilgrims every day.
Tirumala is a spiritual town in Tirupati district of Andhra Pradesh. Located atop the seven hills, Lord Venkateswara temple at Tirumala attracts lakhs of pilgrims every day. While some devout travel to the temple in vehicles, a few others climb the steps (metlu in Telugu) to reach the shrine.
An image of a girl standing beside a signboard that says “Srivari mettu footpath starting point. Total steps: 2388, Distance to Tirumala – 2.1km” is shared with the claim that the Reliance Group constructed it and that it is the shortest path for trekking from Tirupati to Tirumala.
The claim in Telugu goes: “తిరుమలకు కాలి నడకన పోయే వారికోసం రిలయన్స్ వారు నిర్మించిన కొత్త మార్గం. దీని ద్వారా మనం కేవలం 2,388 మెట్లలో తిరుమల చేరుకోవచ్చు. పాత మార్గం ద్వారా అయితే 6,588 మెట్లు ఎక్కవలసి వచ్చేది. కాలి నడకన తిరుమల వెళ్ళాలి అనుకొనే అందరి కోసం ఈ సమాచారాన్ని షేర్ చేసి స్ప్రెడ్ చేయండి. శుభోదయం. జై శ్రీమన్నారాయణ.”
When translated, it reads: “Reliance has constructed a new path for pedestrians to Tirumala. There are only 2,388 steps in this route. Whereas, the old route has 6,588 steps to reach the temple town. Spread this message so that it reaches all wishing to reach Tirumala by foot.”
Fact Check:
The claim that Reliance recently constructed the shortest trekking path to Tirumala is false. It has been part of Tirumala's history for a long time.
When we searched for the viral video with the keywords “Srivari mettu to Tirumala”, we found several results explaining the importance of this walk path to Tirumala.
According to an article published in ysrcppolls.in, Srivari mettu margam (Lord Venkateswara walk path route) is chosen by several pilgrims to go to Tirumala. Historians mention that Sri Krishna Devaraya first reached Tirumala travelling through this Srivari mettu margam.
Srivari mettu margam is the shortest trekking route from Srinivasa Mangapuram. With the number of footfalls growing and many pilgrims opting to trek through this route, facilities and security have been improved.
The Srivari Mettu consists of a total of 2,388 steps covering a distance of 2.1 km. To reach Srivari Mettu from Tirupati, one has to take a bus from Tirupati bus station to Srinivasa Mangapuram, which is 10.6 km away. From Srinivasa Mangapuram to Srivari Mettu it is 4 km, either you can take another bus or go by walk.
Srivari Mettu is a much older pedestrian path to the hill shrine than that from Alipiri and is believed to have been used by the emperor, Sri Krishnadevaraya, in the 16th century.
However, it had remained defunct for many years before TTD renovated it a couple of years ago and started encouraging pilgrims to use that path.
The claim that another footpath which is from Alipiri has 6,588 steps is also false. This path has only 3,550 steps covering a distance of 9 km. The Alipiri walk path is open 24 hours whereas Srivari mettu route is open from 6 am to 6 pm only.
https://myoksha.com/tirumala-
http://ttdseva.in/tirumala-
This claim was viral in 2021 too and was debunked by several fact-checking organizations.
Hence, the claim that Reliance recently has constructed the shortest walk path to Tirumala is false. The Srivari Mettu margam is an old walk path to Tirumala, being used by pilgrims for the last few centuries.