Two Indian Americans donated Rs 13.5 crore to the Lord Venkateswara temple in Tirupati on Saturday.
Ika Ravi and Guthikonda Srinivas, who hail from Andhra Pradesh, donated the money to the temple 'Hundi' and various trusts run by temple authorities.
Ravi, Founder CEO of Rx Advance, a pharmaceutical company based in Boston, donated Rs 10 crore to 'Hundi', while Srinivas, CEO of JCG Technologies, a software development and consulting firm based in Florida, donated Rs 3.50 crore to the trusts.
They met the officials of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), which manages the richest Hindu temple in the world, handed over the cheques in the presence of Andhra Pradesh's Industry Minister Amarnath Reddy. The Minister lauded the gesture of the NRIs.
Thousands of devotees, who visit the hill shrine every day, make their offerings in 'Hundi' while some devotees make their donations online. TTD runs several trusts engaged in social, religious, literary and educational activities.
The temple receives 60,000-80,000 people every day, and has been managed by hundreds of officials and priests.
The figure even crosses a lakh during summer vacations and on special occasions.
In April last year, the temple reportedly said that it earned Rs 1,038 crore through cash offerings from devotees in 2016-17.
With nearly 2.68 crore devotees visiting the shrine during the financial year, the TTD said that a total of 10.46 crore laddus were sold during this time.
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.
Last month, the Supreme Court directed the Centre to set up a committee to study how the temples of cultural and architectural importance across the country were being managed, particularly vis-a-vis facilities for pilgrims and utilisation of donations and offerings.
IANS inputs