Tirumala temple
Credit: DH File Photo
A wedding in the family? How about buying the mangalsutra from the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) and receiving the blessings of Lord Venkateswara as a bonus?
As part of its “noble mission” of promoting Sanatana Hindu Dharma, the TTD Trust Board has decided to make and sell mangalsutras to devotees seeking divine blessings for a happy married life.
This and several other decisions were taken during the board meeting on Monday. The board has approved a Rs 5,141-crore budget for the financial year 2024-25.
The TTD board manages the hill shrine of Tirumala, one of the richest Hindu temples in the country.
During my previous term as TTD Trust board chief, I have performed 32,000 marriages to poor couples through the unique Kalyanamastu programme and none of them were converted to other religions in the last 17years. By introducing the sale of Mangala Sutram which have the blessings of Sri Venkateswara Swamy, it will help them to further strengthen their bond and lead a blissful married life. These Mangala Sutrams will be prepared in 5 grams and 10 grams on a cost-to-cost basis in four or five designs. Along with these, it has also been decided to make Lakshmi kasulu too", TTD Chairman Bhumana Karunakar Reddy said after the Board meeting.
According to the budget estimates, TTD has been expecting a Hundi collection of at Rs 1,611 Crs during 2024-25. Daily, on an average, the Tirumala temple receives at least Rs 4.5 Cr to Rs 5 crs of donations in cash in SriVari hundi. This marks the first time the TTD budget has crossed Rs 5,000 crore.
Besides cash offerings, Tirumala temple also receives gold, silver and other metals. The Lord Venkateswara temple receives an average one ton of gold in donations from the pilgrims.
The TTD also estimates an income of Rs 1,068 crore in the form of interest on deposits in several banks, Rs 600 crore from the sale of ‘prasada’ and Rs 338 crore from the sale of ‘darshan’ tickets.