THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) is mulling an AI-supported machine to end its woes of sorting and counting coins received as offerings at Sabarimala temple. The board is in talks with a Bengaluru-based company that had recently manufactured a machine for this purpose at Tirupati temple in Andhra Pradesh. A similar machine will meet Sabarimala temple’s needs, said TDB president K Ananthagopan, who was part of the team that visited the firm.
“We saw the machine developed by the company for Tirupati. It employs AI to sort the coins. A demo was arranged for us using 3-4 lakh coins,” Ananthagopan told TNIE.
Last year, the board had a tough time counting the huge coin stock. The counting by its employees lasted even weeks after the close of the pilgrimage season. About 5.5 crore coins were received last year.
“Several devotees make daily coin offerings at their homes and would submit it to the god during the annual visit to the temple. This is a popular practice. The number of coins is increasing each year,” Ananthagopan explained.
According to him, the proposed machine can sort all types of Indian coins, including different types of the same denomination. The coins put into the machine are sorted, counted and delivered in packets of 100 coins as per the denomination and type. The board plans to set up the machine before the annual pilgrimage season in 2024.
“Next, we will send a technical team to study the machine’s functioning. It would have officers of the electrical wing of the board and experts from outside. The team will be asked to review the time taken by the machine for the process,” Ananthagopan elaborated. The board plans to link the conveyor belt before the sanctum with the machine.
The machine would cost about Rs 2.5 crore, and the Bengaluru firm is offering operation and maintenance support for five years for an additional crore. The board is looking for sponsors who can help it. About 60 per cent of the machine’s cost has to be paid in advance. The machine, almost the size of a room, will take six months to be manufactured.