VIJAYAWADA: A whopping Rs 1.9 crore was garnered through hundi collections by Sri Durga Malleswara Swamy Varla Devasthanam after the completion of Wednesday’s counting process. The collection already stands at about Rs 6 lakh more compared to last month, despite there being another day for counting.
According to temple officials, the devotee influx was high in October as Dasara was observed on a grand note at the temple. With this, the hundi collections has seen a steady growth: it was Rs 1.78 crore between October 1-14 (Dasara festival) and Rs 1.84 crore in September. Interestingly, the temple staff were surprised to see newly-issued Rs 2,000 currency notes in the hundis which amounted to Rs 96,000. The devotees also offered old currency Rs 1,000 notes worth Rs 22.58 lakh and Rs 500 notes worth Rs 56.27 lakh. The hundi collections are expected to increase further after completion of counting procedure on Thursday.
However, it may be mentioned that the temple had been witnessing a revenue dip, after the Central Government imposed a ban on higher denomination currency notes Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 from last eight days. Usually, on any given day, around 30,000 pilgrims throng the hill shrine, but on Wednesday, owing to the restrictions, hundreds turned up.
“With lack of sufficient Rs 100 currency notes, temple staff are told to sell Rs 300 darshan tickets to only those who carried enough change with them. The offerings made by the devotees through old notes are also being rejected in last few days,” said a temple official.