While everybody else in the country appears to be adversely affected by the sudden ban on the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes, the famous Sri Venkateshwara temple atop the Tirumala Hills in Andhra Pradesh, the richest Hindu temple in south India does not seem to be hit by the demonitisation at all as far as the cash flow in to its
coffers.
However the number of pilgrims visiting the famous temple has come down considerably. Against the norm of waiting for several hours, the pilgrims reaching the town were now able to complete their rituals in less than two hours. “The pilgrims were able to get the Sarva Darshan in in two hours and special Darshan in one hour as the rush of the pilgrims has come down considerably”, a senior official of Tirumala Tirupati Devsthanam said adding that the cash crunch has affected the numbers of pilgrims coming to the temple.
However there was no affect on the offerings of cash and other valuables made at the temple. On Monday the Hundi of the temple received the offerings of Rs 4.18 crore, considerably higher compared to the average offerings of Rs 3 crore per day.
“Most of the offerings were in the old currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000”, the official said on the condition of anonymity. “The offerings received on Monday were the highest since the demonetization announced on November 8”, he added.
The record of highest ever offerings of cash to the Hundi of the temple was Rs 5.37 crore in 2012 on Sri Rama Navami Day and Monday’s receipt was the second biggest cash offering.
However the Chief Public Relations Officer at the Tirumala temple Dr T Ravi said that the offerings also include the new currency notes dispelling the impression that the increase in the offering was an attempt by the people to get rid of the unaccounted cash.
Tirumala temple is the richest among all the temples in the country and it receives Rs 1000 crore cash offering every year in addition to the gold and silver jewelry, precious stones and other valubales.