With footfall of 25 lakh, Lord Balaji temple nets Rs 86cr in cash offerings in May
The famous hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara netted Rs 86.46 crore in cash offerings alone in May. The worth of gold and other precious offerings and income from tickets were yet to be calculated.
india Updated: Jun 01, 2018 20:42 IST
Press Trust of India, Tirupati
A ‘hundi’ (offering box) collection of Rs 86.46 crore has been netted by the famous hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara during the month of May, which witnessed a footfall of 25 lakh devotees being the summer vacation time, temple officials said on Friday.
The cash offering was about 10% more than the Rs 78.47 crore collection made during May last year. The worth of gold and other precious offerings made in the hundi by devotees and income from sale of worship tickets and other sources during the month were yet to be calculated, officials told PTI.
About 25 lakh pilgrims from across the country and abroad thronged the hill shrine during the month and of them over 13 lakh, including women and infants, had their heads tonsured as fulfilment of their vow, they said.
About 1.05 crore ‘laddoos’ were sold to the devotees at the shrine. Cash offering made in the hundi alone was expected account for about Rs 1,156 crore of the recently budgeted overall revenue of about Rs 2,894 crore for fiscal 2018-19, officials added.
First Published: Jun 01, 2018 20:42 IST