Tirumala temple gets AI-powered command centre for safety, crowd prediction

Tirupati: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday inaugurated an AI-powered Integrated Command Control Centre at Tirumala temple, considered to be the world’s most visited pilgrimage destination.

Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), which manages the affairs of the famous hill shrine, claims that this is India’s first AI-powered command hub for a pilgrimage ecosystem, to deliver real-time crowd prediction, faster queues, enhanced safety, and cyber threat monitoring across Tirumala.

Also known as Tirupati Balaji temple, the shrine has got world-class crowd management, safety, and cyber resilience with the opening of the Integrated Command Control Centre (ICCC).

The facility at Vaikuntham Queue Complex–I integrates advanced cameras, 3D situational maps, and live dashboards monitored by a dedicated technical team, setting a national benchmark for pilgrim experience and temple governance.

Built under a pro bono public–private model funded by Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), the AI and digital twin–powered ICCC enhances crowd prediction, safety, and cyber resilience across Tirumala.

The new command hub predicts ‘sarva darshanam’ wait times, visualises congestion in 3D, and unifies cyber threat monitoring to protect pilgrims and temple systems, the TTD said.

With over 6,000 AI cameras and high-performance compute, Tirumala now processes millions of daily events to deliver faster queues and smarter incident response.

From drone-assisted emergencies to tablet-based staff validation, the ICCC brings real-time dashboards and predictive analytics to every step of the pilgrim journey.

Powered by AI/ML and NVIDIA-backed infrastructure, ICCC delivers real-time density tracking, anomaly detection, and misinformation defense.

ICCC was conceptualised during Information Technology Minister Nara Lokesh’s visit to Silicon Valley in October 2024. He met multiple startups working on smart cities, digital twins, AI and cyber security. Following his guidance, conversations began with like-minded NRIs to shape an agenda to apply frontier technologies at Tirumala for scale, safety, and service excellence, the TTD said.

Diaspora leaders mobilised expertise and philanthropic support to translate this vision into a working command centre timed with peak festival footfalls.

The centre has features like facial recognition–assisted identification for missing persons and incident response; automated alerts for distress signals; guided evacuation routes via 3D visuals, interactive 3D maps flag red-zone congestion, queue compartments, and accommodation status for rapid decongestion.

It also does monitoring to deter misinformation, defamatory content, and attacks on temple digital assets, protecting the TTD’s reputation and operations.

The ICCC will have 24×7 monitoring by over two dozen trained staff, unified dashboards, and cross-department escalation for faster on-ground action.

The system can process 360,000 payloads every minute and 518 million events daily. It generates 2.5 billion inferences every day, all in real time.

–IANS