The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), which oversees affairs of the Lord Venkateswara temple atop Tirumala in Andhra Pradesh, has appealed to banks to help it deal with coins and foreign notes that have landed up in its 'hundi'.
Speaking to reporters on Sunday after a review meeting with officials, TTD special officer AV Dharma Reddy said that a large number of coins have been accumulating, which was a cause of concern for the body, which governs one of the richest Hindu temples in the world.
Stating that Federal Bank and Andhra Bank had been helping the TTD with doing the counting and transporting the coins on a day-to-day basis, Reddy said that more banks had to be involved in the process, to help clear the pile-up.
"TTD is engaged in a series of social and welfare activities and considering all this, the banks should come forward to support TTD,” Dharma Reddy was quoted as saying.
Believed to have been constructed over a period starting 300 AD, the temple attracts 50,000 to one lakh pilgrims every day. The number on special occasions like the annual Brahmotsavam and festivals goes up to 4-5 lakh.
Devotees make offerings in the form of cash, gold and silver jewellery, property deeds and even demat shares.
The temple earns Rs 1,000 crore to Rs 1,200 crore from ‘Hundi' collections or offerings by devotees every year.
During 2019-20, the TTD expects an overall revenue of about Rs 3,116 crore including Rs 1,231 crore from offerings and Rs 846 crore from interest on deposits in nationalized and private banks.
The TTD had approved an annual budget of Rs 2,858 crore for 2017-18 and had stated that the temple's earnings during 2018-19 were around Rs 2,894 crore, of which the offerings in the 'hundi' alone was Rs 1,156 crore.
The temple is also reported to have over Rs 12,000 crore in fixed deposits in various banks.
IANS inputs