Odisha beggar donates ₹1 lakh collected as alms to Jagannath temple
The temple committee said they were reluctant to take the money when the woman approached them, but agreed to accept it when she insisted
A 60-year-old woman, who has been a beggar before the Jagannath temple in Phulbani town of Odisha’s Kandhamal district for last two decades, donated ₹1 lakh that she collected as alms to the same temple on Friday.
Tula Behera, a widow living in Phulbani town, donated the money that she had saved over the years to the president of Phulbani Jagannath Temple Management Committee, Sunasir Mohapatra, and other members. “I owe my existence and survival to Jagannath, the Lord of the Universe. I am on the last leg of my life. What will I do with the money, so I gave away all of it to the Almighty,” she said.
Behera, originally from Cuttack, had been staying in Phulbani after falling in love with one Prafulla Behera. After Behera passed away a few years after their marriage, she did menial jobs for a few decades till lack of food took a toll on her health and she had to beg for a living.
She used to deposit the money that she received as alms in a post office account. When the post office informed her that her savings in the account has crossed ₹1 lakh, she decided to donate it to the temple.
Temple Management Committee president Sunasir Mohapatra said when Tula approached him, he was reluctant to take the money. “But she insisted and the committee accepted it from her on the auspicious day of Dhanu Sankranti,” he said.