By Hemant SharmaAlright, let’s have a look at one of the richest temples in the world, and yes, we’re talking about the Tirupati Balaji Temple down there in Andhra Pradesh. One of the richest in the world? Oh yes! Every single year, literally millions of people visit this religious place, and they donate money, gold, and other valuable things to the temple. Which together, all amounts to a wealth aka net worth that is just mind-boggling. What’s that? Oh, if you’re interested in just that, let’s have a close look, shall we?
What’s The Net Worth Aka How Rich Is Tirupati Balaji Temple?
According to some recent estimates, well, the temple is worth over ₹2.5 lakh crore. That’s precisely what ranks it really high in the list of the richest temples in India as well as in the entire world. Though, keep in mind that this isn’t all donations, we’re talking about everything combined here, like, cash, gold, land, and properties managed by the temple trust. Temple trust? Yes, we’re referring to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) here.
If we go into the specifics here, you see, as per the details that are already out, Tirupati Balaji Temple owns more than 7,100 acres of land across India. That’s it? Obviously nah! You see, this temple also has over 11 tonnes of gold stored in banks and deposits worth nearly ₹18,817 crore.
Where Does the Money Come From?
As we already cleared up before, yes, the temple’s biggest source of income is devotee donations, no two ways about that. Like, every day, thousands of people drop money, gold, and jewellery into the temple’s hundi (donation box). If you want a yearly estimate of all the donations by the people visiting this place, well, in just one year, these donations add up to about ₹1,600 crores! How about that now?
And want to know another interesting fact? Well, are you aware of the fact that this temple also earns from the interest of the already deposited money in the banks? Oh yes, and that amounts to about ₹1,167 crore per year just from interest alone, which is just purely impressive if you think about it for a sec.
Another interesting thing about the earnings? Why not! You see, another big earner is the famous Tirupati laddus. Laddus? Oh yes! You see, these special temple sweets are so popular that their sales bring in around ₹600 crore every year, which is just another mind-boggling number right there. On top of that, devotees pay for special darshan tickets and seva services, which add another ₹338 crore to the temple’s income.