SRINAGAR: As inquiry into allegations of adulterated silver donations worth about Rs 550 crore at Vaishno Devi shrine is going on, the Vaishno Devi shrine at Katra in Jammu and Kashmir has received offerings of 7671.45 kgs silver, over 32 kgs gold and cash donations amounting to Rs 572.14 crores in last two and a half years.
The figures were disclosed by the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB) in response to an RTI application filed by RTI activist Raman Sharma.
According to the RTI reply, Vaishno Devi shrine has received offerings in the form of white metal appearing like silver to the tune of 7671.45 kgs in the last two and a half years.
The shrine received 4080655 grams (4080.655 kgs) of silver as offerings in 2024, 2916940 grams (2916.94 kgs) in 2025 and 673845 grams (673.845 kgs) till June this year.
According to SMVDSB, the shrine received 18.11 kgs gold offerings in 2024, 10.82 kgs gold in 2025 and 3.17 kgs of gold till June this year, taking the total gold offerings to 32.10 kg in the last two and a half years.
The Vaishno shrine also received cash donations amounting to Rs 572.14 crores in last two and a half years --- Rs 282.17 crores in 2024, Rs 217.07 crores in 2025 and Rs 72.97 crores till June this year.
The Vaishno Devi shrine attracts millions of pilgrims from across the country annually. In 2023, about 95.22 lakh pilgrims visited the shrine followed by 94.84 lakhs in 2024. In 2025, 69.79 lakhs devotees visited the cave shrine.
The decline in pilgrim flow in 2025 was attributed to the Pahalgam terror attack and flash floods in the Jammu region.
The SMVDSB’s revelation about offerings have come at a time when Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Jammu has sought a detailed inquiry report from the Jammu and Kashmir Police into the alleged Rs 550-crore “fake silver” offerings at the shrine.
A Jammu-based lawyer Deepak Sharma has approached the court seeking registration of an FIR and investigation into allegations over offerings of 2,000 kg of fake silver worth over Rs 500 cores at the shrine.
According to petitioner, the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board had sent approximately 20 tonnes of silver valuing at Rs 550 crores offered by devotees to a government mint for melting and processing but only silver worth Rs 20 - 30 crores turned out to be genuine while the remaining silver valued at Rs 530 crores was found to be adulterated.
The petition has alleged that fake silver contained a highly toxic cadmium, which is a highly restricted chemical and is not easily available or accessible, has been found in 2000 kgs fake silver offerings in the shrine and sought investigation into possibility of substitution, pilferage or replacement of genuine silver offerings with cadmium-laden inferior metal during storage, dispatch, transportation or before receipt of the mint.
The matter is scheduled to come up for hearing before the CJM Jammu on August 18.