TTD gets record Rs 130 cr Hundi offerings in May
File picture of devotees standing in queuelines at Tirumala
Tirumala: Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) netted an income of Rs 130.29 crore through the cash offerings (kanukas) by devotees in the Hundi of Tirumala temple in May this year.
According to TTD executive officer AD Dharma Reddy, in the history of TTD this was the highest in a month so far.
After the Dial-your-EO programme, speaking to media persons at Annamayya Bhavan here on Friday, the EO said that TTD has made a remarkable achievement in revenue collections thanks to the unprecedented pilgrim rush after normalcy returned. The devotees who could not fulfil their vows due to the restrictions during the Covid, for about two years, naturally were keen on visiting Tirumala immediately, post-coronavirus resulting in the temple town teeming with devotees for the past three months while the rush reached its peak in May due to summer holiday, he explained.
The income through Tirumala temple Hundi cash offerings which was Rs 79.34 crore in February this year had increased to Rs 128.60 crore in March registering a big leap of nearly Rs 50 crore. But in April, the income slightly decreased to Rs 127 crore only to jump to Rs 130.29 crore in May which is the highest in a month, so far.
Similarly, the number of pilgrims who had darshan was only 10.97 lakh in February with TTD, as a precautionary measure, allowed only a limited number of pilgrims for darshan. However, with the TTD steadily increasing the number of pilgrims being allowed daily for darshan, in March 19.72 lakh pilgrims had darshan which increased to 20.64 lakh in April and further to 22.62 lakh in May this year. In other words, about 75,000 had daily darshan which was also very high and was one of reasons that helped TTD get more revenue through Hundi cash offerings. The EO said the sale of laddus was also high with 1.86 crore laddus being sold in May while 47.03 pilgrims availed Annaprasadam (free food) provided by the TTD to the pilgrim daily.
Informing that a highest number of 92,000 pilgrims had darshan on May 29, he said that TTD on its part expanded the facilities like free food, water, sanitation, security etc., to the maximum possible to cope with the rush and minimizing the inconvenience to the pilgrims.
VIP break is limited to only protocol dignitaries on Friday-Saturday-Sunday till July 15 so that more common devotees could be provided Srivari darshan, he explained.
In the same breath, Dharma Reddy appealed to the devotees to be patient at times of unprecedented crowds and summer rush taking more than 48 hours (2 days) for darshan.