2013 sees slump in Tirumala hundi

Tirumala: In 2013, 1,95,54,259 (one crore ninety five lakhs fifty four thousand two hundred and fifty nine) devotees visited Tirumala.

The numbers were significantly lesser than 2012, which meant that the hundi revenues came down.

The revenues of the Tirumala temple, which stood at Rs 900 crore in 2012, came down to Rs 710 crore in the year 2013.

The disturbances in and around the Seemandhra region during the last few months of 2013 seem to have taken a toll, as the number of devotees took a dip.

Compared to 2012, around 26 lakh less devotees visited Tirumala in 2013.

With the decrease in the number of devotees, the revenues of Lord Venkateswara also went down.

Eighteen lakh visited Tirumala in December

Tirumala: Authorities of the TTD released the month-wise statistics of devotees coming to Tirupati during the year 2013.

The numbers were: January — 19,13,440, February — 16,00,214, March — 19,05,592, April —18,49,011, May — 19,94,012, June — 20,82,704, July — 19,74,384, August — 17,66,214, September — 17,06972, October — 10,56,605, November — 17,05,111, December — 17,97,934.

The hundi income of the Tirumala temple dipped by Rs 190 crore.

Sources said that TTD authorities seriously need to introspect whether the revenues of the temple dipped because of the Samaikyandhra agitations or due to other reasons.

The dip in collections would have a serious impact on the budget of the TTD in 2014.