The collections at the TTD Balaji Temple are the same as they were earlier. Since there is no currency problem for the Lord , the pilgrims are offering the same old notes to Lord as they can be deposited by the TTD till the next month end.
It’s business as usual at Tirumala. The BJP led NDA Governments demonetisation has not changed things much, according to the officials of the , Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD).
The offerings in the hundi are no different from what they were pre-demonetisation. Pilgrims generally drop anything in the hundi as it is anonymous and the same is applicable now too. They are dropping the same currency and the same would be deposited in the banks as usual. It has to be seen what happens after December 30, if the pilgrims drop the old currency in the Hundi. The daily hundi collections in Tirumala are in the range of ₹2.5-3.4 crore, with abut 70,000 to one lakh pilgrims visiting the temple town every day.
On TTD’s policy on demonetised notes, the officials said like any other institution it will follow RBI guidelines. “There is nothing to sensationalise in this,” he pointed out.
According to RBI guidelines, all withdrawn notes can be deposited in banks up to December 30, after which the RBI will continue to accept them till March 31, 2017.
It remains to be seen what religious establishments like TTD will do if these notes continue to be offered by pilgrims after the deadline.
According to Ramana Dikshitulu, Head Priest, Tirumala, the currency crunch has had no impact on poojas and rituals which are conducted at the requests of the devotees (Arjitham).
In 2015-16, TTD had collections of ₹2,621 crore from various sources and has projected ₹2,678 crore for 2016-17. There is no dearth of collections for the Akhilanda Koti Brahmanda Nayakudu.
