Hundi Collections at Tirumala Srivari Temple Surpassed the 700 Crore Mark in 2024
While TTD Temple has implemented crowd control measures, the collection in the Hundi continues to increase.
image for illustrative purpose
The revenue generated from the hundi collections at the Srivari temple in Tirumala exceeded Rs 300 crore during the first quarter of the current financial year. If we consider the calendar year, the total amount of offerings received from January to June is approaching the 700-crore milestone.
Before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the daily collection averaged Rs 1.8 crore, occasionally surpassing the Rs 2-crore mark on weekends. After the pandemic, there was a substantial increase in hundi collections, with the Srivari temple receiving an average of Rs 2.58 crore per day.
According to sources from the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), the total amount collected in the hundi during the first six months of this year was Rs 670.21 crore. In January, the temple received Rs 116.46 crore. This was followed by Rs 111.71 crore in February, Rs 118.49 crore in March, Rs 101.63 crore in April, Rs 108.28 crore in May, and Rs 113.64 crore in June.
As of October 31, 2023, the Temple Trust reported that the total amount of money held in fixed deposits across 24 banks was Rs 17,816.15 crore, which generated significant interest. The TTD possesses a total of 11,225.66 kilograms of pure gold, which is held as deposits in the State Bank of India (SBI) and Indian Overseas Bank.
Despite the TTD's implementation of crowd control measures and the limitation of daily visitors to the Srivari temple to 68,000, the collection in the hundi continues to experience a considerable rise.
The policy of exclusively permitting pilgrims with pre-booked tickets may be discontinued by the new state government, which may reintroduce the previous system of unrestricted access for devotees seeking darshan.
