The Guruvayur Sree Krishna Temple in Kerala possesses bank deposits to the tune of Rs 1,737.04 crore and land of 271.05 acres, according to an RTI reply. Though the temple also reportedly has an immense collection of gold, silver and precious stones, received as offerings from devotees, the shrine management refused to divulge details and the value due to security reasons, it said.
The centuries-old shrine, where Lord Vishnu is worshipped as Krishna, attracts thousands of people from across the country every year. Details of the temple's assets came to light following a RTI query filed by MK Haridas, a native of Guruvayur and president of an organisation named Proper Channel. As per the RTI reply, given by the Guruvayur Devaswom, the temple has 271.0506 acres of land but its value is yet to be assessed by the management. The shrine has an amount of Rs 1737,04,90,961 as deposit in various banks, it said as a reply to another question.
The Devaswom (temple management) informed that it has received no financial assistance till date, after the Pinarayi Vijayan government came to power in 2016. It also made it clear that the shrine is yet to receive in return Rs 10 crore, which had been contributed by the Devaswom to the Chief Minister's distress relief fund following the floods in 2018-19, despite a High Court order in this regard.
MK Haridas said constant neglect and inaction of the temple devaswom, in terms of the development of the shrine and the welfare of its devotees, forced him to seek these details through an RTI query. "The shrine has whopping bank deposits and other assets. Still the Guruvayur Devaswom is doing nothing for the temple and its devotees," he told PTI.
The management has been running a hospital near the shrine but its condition and upkeep were pathetic, he alleged. He also criticised the Devaswom over the distribution of 'prasadam' and their reluctance to set up a garden to source flowers for the daily rituals and offering in the shrine.
Though the Tirupati (Lord Venkateswara) temple is the richest shrine, its management had no issues in declaring its assets in detail in different categories like how much gold and so on, he said. However, the devaswom authorities are yet to react to the allegations.
A vast collection of invaluable articles, including rare jewels, stone-studded crowns, heaps of gold and silver coins, idols and gold, silver and brass platters and lamps, had been found in the secret vaults of Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram during a Supreme Court-directed inventory a decade ago. Though its exact value is yet to be made public, it was reportedly estimated to be Rs 1 lakh crore.