Daily collections and devotee footfall at the Lord Venkateswara temple atop Tirumala in Andhra Pradesh hit a record low this month as the temple only managed to collect Rs 54 lakh on one day, against its usual Rs 3 crore a day.
The drop in collection is mainly attributed to the decision by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), the governing body of the temple, which put certain restrictions in place on account of a special ritual.
"The hundi (offering box) daily gets cash offerings of Rs 3 crore or more, besides gold and other offerings. The income saw an unprecedented dip due to restrictions on entry of devotees on account of the ritual," a TTD official told PTI.
The official added that the previous low was on August 12, when the hundi netted Rs 73 lakh, against the regular figure.
Last month, the TTD had said that it would restrict 'darshan' for devotees between August 9 and August 17.
A special meeting was convened on the matter, following which TTD Trust chairman Putta Sudhakar informed that a grand cleansing ritual, titiled 'Maha Samprokshana', which is performed once in 12 years, was going to take place.
While the TTD initially said that no devotees would be allowed for the period between the evening of August 9 and the morning of August 17, officials later reviewed the decision, to avoid hurting the sentiments of devotees.
TTD Executive Officer Anil Kumar Singhal explained that during the days of the ritual, the temple could allow darshans only for a limited time, for which only a limited number of devotees could be allowed.
In April last year, the temple reportedly said that it earned Rs 1,038 crore through cash offerings from devotees in 2016-17.
It had approved an annual budget of Rs 2,858 crore for 2017-18.
According to TTD officials, the temple's earnings during 2018-19 are expected to be Rs 2,894 crore, of which the offerings in temple 'Hundi' are likely to be Rs 1,156 crore.