Already the richest & still counting….

For any Indian, its a very easy question – which is the richest temple in India?

Pat comes the answer – Tirupati Balaji.

And that’s true indeed. But we all hear stories of tonnes of cash and gold which the temple gets as donation, year-after-year. So surely you have wondered about the quantity of gold with the temple? As per official word from the temple officials in May’19, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), which manages the affairs of the famous Sri Venkateswara Temple, has pure gold reserves of over 9,000 kg.

The TTD said that it has 7,235 kg of the yellow metal deposited with two nationalized banks under different gold deposit schemes and around 1,934 kg gold in its treasury.

The TTD expects to end current fiscal with a total revenue of Rs.3100 crore, which includes Rs.1231 crore from offerings and Rs.846 crore from interest on deposits in nationalized and private banks. According to sources, the temple has over Rs 12,000 crore in fixed deposits in various banks. It is also believed to be earning about 100 kg of gold as annual interest on gold deposits in the banks.

No one really know how much wealth the temple actually has as the main deity in the sanctum sanctorum and many other idols used for processions are adorned with diamonds, precious stones and gold. It is said to have antiques itself worth many crores.