New Delhi, January 12: Railways Minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday announced that a premium lounge will be set-up for scores of Balaji temple devotees who arrive at the Tirupati railway station. Named as "Atithi", the lounge will provide ample space for the pilgrims to relax and safely keep their luggage.

As per the images shared by Goyal, the lounge appears to be a plush restroom. The Railways Minister himself compares it to a room of a "5-star hotel". Tirupati Balaji Temple To Sell 60 Tonnes of Foreign Coins To NRI Organisation.

On seeing the pictures below, one would be left wondering whether the lounge has been built by the Railways or a private hospitality firm.

The Balaji temple of Lord Venkateswara, in Andhra Pradesh's Tirupati, is frequented by lakhs of devotees round the year. The holy site witnessed the influx of an unprecedented 1.5 lakh pilgrims last month -- on the auspicious occasion of "Vaikunta Ekadasi" festival.

Among those who offered their prayers at the temple include Telangana and Andhra Pradesh Governor ESL Narasimhan, former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, his son and Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 12, 2019 09:24 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).