Tirupati: Ever since the government announced the withdrawal of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 on November 8, cash offerings to various temples in Chittoor district have witnessed an upward swing. Apart from Tirumala temple, the other famous temples like Srikalahasti, Kanipakam and Tiru-chanoor temples are also witnessing heavy cash inflow for the past 20 days, where the devotees’ rush was less compared to earlier days.
The hundi deposits in Tirumala temple are overflowing day after day, after demonetisation, where it crossed Rs 4 crore on a single day, which was never witnessed before in Tirumala. Compared to the previous year, where the hundi collection was only Rs 60.63 crore in November, this year in November it is about Rs 89.53 crore, which seems to be the effect of demonetisation, observe TTD officials. “We do not want to encourage devotees to drop the banned notes in the hundi, but then we will be interfering in their religious vows if we ask them to disclose their offerings,” said a senior TTD official of the Parakamani section, which counts notes and maintains the hundi.
The first two days of this month’s hundi collection in Tirumala is also not less than Rs 2 crore per day. On December 1, the hundi collection was Rs 2.13 crore while 60,150 devotees had darshan of the Lord. On December 2, the hundi collection was Rs 2.57 crore and 62,377 devotees had darshan. According to officials, the daily collection is now more than double, from Rs 1 crore to Rs 2 crore received before the demonetisation move. The temple administration is now expecting another big surge, this time in demonetised notes. “There may be a phenomenal increase in this year’s collections, thanks to demonetisation,” said a senior official who did not want to be named.
Meanwhile, Srikalahasteeswara Swamy temple, the second largest temple in Chittoor district, which is managed by the state endowment department, has also witnessed a surge in hundi collections after demonetisation. When the hundi collection was counted on October 27, before the big notes ban, it was Rs 83.06 lakh. But after demonetisation, when the hundi was counted on November 16, Rs 87.02 lakh was found.
Again on November 25 when the counting taken place, the hundi had received Rs 32.11 crores. According to temple sources, two bundles of banned Rs.1000 denomination notes were found in the hundi during counting. The temple officials are expecting the surge in hundi collections will continue till this month end.
