Tirumala hundi receives record Rs 7.6 crore on New Year

TIRUPATI: The New Year began on a rich note for the Lord Balaji temple at Tirumala as it received Rs 7.6 crore in its hundi on Monday, the biggest single-day hundi donation in the history of the temple.
The cash flowed into what is the world's richest Hindu temple as the day marked the auspicious occasion of Vaikunta Ekadasi. The earnings are Rs 1.3 crore more than the previous daily record of Rs 6.3 crore on October 23, 2022.
With tens of thousands of devotees thronging the temple to seek the blessings of the Lord of the seven hills, the queue has been running into miles since midnight of December 31. Ever since the Covid-19 restrictions were lifted at the temple in April last year, the temple trust board has been receiving phenomenal hundi collections month after month.
The Lord Venkateswara temple nestled in the valley of the picturesque Seshachalam biosphere has been abuzz with hectic pilgrim rush ever since the pandemic restrictions were lifted. TTD, which manages the temple, has seen a paradigm shift in its hundi collections in the last one decade with the donation almost doubling between 2012 and 2022.
While the average hundi donations received at other prominent Hindu shrines in a month is about 4 crore, the average hundi offering at Tirumala temple is about 6 crore daily.
While the average monthly hundi collection at Tirumala temple used to be between 90 crore and 115 crore before Covid-19 hit, the month-wise collections have been on the higher side since April last year. With eight more days left for the Vaikunta Dwara darshan linked to the Vaikunta Ekadasi festival, TTD officials hope there could be a phenomenal rise in collections in January 2023. This will help the temple trust accumulate 1,500 crore through hundi collections alone in 2022-2023 financial year.