Tirupati temple earns £103.8 mn in cash offerings

TIRUPATI: Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) earned £103.8 million through cash offerings from devotees this year. TTD Executive Officer D Sambasiva Rao said 268 million devotees visited the shrine during the financial year, and a total of 104.6 million laddoos were sold in the duration. The TTD approved a £285.8 million annual budget for 2017-18, in February. Cash offerings by devotees at the temple 'hundi' was projected at £111 million, while interest on investments in various nationalised banks was estimated to fetch £80.77 million. The sale of Rs 300 special entry 'darshan' is expected to fetch a minimum of £25.6 million during the financial year. The sale of laddoos is expected to fetch £16.5 million.