One of the main tourist attractions of India are its religious places, especially the ancient temples. The splendid architecture of many of these shrines draws millions of people from across the world towards this Asian country. While the temples in the Southern region of the country consist of temple towers or ‘Gopurams’, the northern shrines have conical or cylindrical tops. However, apart from their marvelous architecture, these shrines from across the nation have also become a subject of curiosity globally for a new reason – their wealth. Quite recently, an ancient temple, located in a southern state of India, made headlines world over for its immense wealth, which was discovered at the shrine. A prime reason behind the prosperity of these shrines is the huge amount of donations they receive from devotees, as a token of respect towards God. The stories of how these religious places earned their fortunes are sure to leave any person amazed. Here are 10 such wealthy temples from across India, which you should visit if you are exploring this country.
1. Anantha Padmanabhaswamy Temple, Kerala
It was discovered only recently that the Anantha Padmanabhaswamy temple, located in Thiruvananthapuram, is the wealthiest temple in the entire world. The name of the capital city of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram, is also derived from this abode of Lord Vishnu. A secluded chamber, which consisted of six vaults were opened recently for inspection. To the astonishment of the government authorities belonging to the department of archaeology, gold and diamond valuables worth a whopping $20 Billion were discovered. However, one of the vaults, named ‘Vault B’ remains closed till date, since a holy ritual revealed that opening the vault would lead to trouble. The picture of a snake, on the door of ‘Vault B,’ also indicates trouble.
Photo Credit https://ananthapadmanabhaswamytemple.wordpress.com/2011/07/13/anantha-padmanabha-swamy-temple-photos/
2. Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam, Andhra Pradesh
Around 50,000 to 100,000 people flock this temple, located in the temple town of Tirupati, each day, to get a glimpse of the deity, Lord Venkateshwara, a form of Lord Vishnu. The temple receives huge amounts of donations from devotees across the world. The temple earns approximately 23-million rupees each day as donations, apart from which the shrine also makes huge profits through the sales of the world famous ‘Tirupati Laddu.’ In 2010, it was found that the temple had possessed gold valuables weighing around 3000 kilos.
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3. Siddhi Vinayak Temple, Mumbai
One of the most famous landmarks of the coastal city of Mumbai is the Siddhivinayak temple. 25000 people throng this shrine every day, which is one of its main sources of revenue. The temple provides their devotees options of entering the shrine faster through special ‘paid queues,’ which also helps in the increase in the temple’s income. According to a survey conducted in 2010-11, the temple earned approximately 49-crore Rupees in just a single year, of which 45 crore rupees were garnered through donations alone. In addition, bookings for various types of rituals, contributes to an annual income of 3-crore rupees to the temple management.
4. Sai Baba Temple, Shirdi
The abode of his holiness ‘The Sai Baba’ of Shirdi is yet another temple in India which draws ardent devotees from all over the world. On an average, around 60,000 people flock the temple on weekdays and over a lakh people visit the shrine during the weekends. According to a 2013 report, the Sai Baba temple in Shirdi had generated a fortune of more than 1,400 crore in a matter of just five years. However, the temple management spends a great deal of money in the distribution of the annual lunch. The authorities also spend a significant amount in providing better accommodation facilities for the devotees and are now even planning to construct a swanky bus station on a budget of 120-crore Rupees.
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5. Meenakshi Temple, Madurai
The Southern part of India boasts of many magnificent temples and the Meenakshi temple is one among them. Apart from devotees, thousands of tourists also visit this famous shrine to feast their eyes upon this splendid ancient Indian architecture. Other than ornamental possessions earned by the temple from the donations given by South Indian rulers, the shrine has also gained a lot of wealth from the offerings of the devotees.
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6. Kashi Vishwanath Temple, Varanasi
It is a widespread belief across India for the Hindus that one should visit the Kashi Vishwanath temple, located in Uttar Pradesh, at least once in his or her life. Perhaps that’s the reason behind the popularity of this abode of Lord Shiva, which is visited by most pilgrims who arrive at Varanasi to take a dip in the holy Ganga.
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7. Golden Temple, Punjab
As the name suggests, this shrine located in the Amritsar district of Punjab is actually coated with pure gold. The precious metal, used in this construction was donated by the ruler Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Apart from its splendid exteriors, even the ceiling of this temple has been designed with Gold, thus making it seem more like a house of treasure. In addition, more than 40,000 devotees visit this holy shrine every day, contributing to its revenue in a great way. This is the holiest ground in the world for the Sikhs.
Photo Credit http://famouswonders.com/golden-temple-of-amritsar/
8. Vaishno Devi, Kashmir
This religious place, located in the state of Kashmir, is one of the most famous pilgrimage spots in India. The temple reportedly earns a fortune of approximately 5000-Million Rupees every year through donations alone. Apart from this mammoth amount earned annually, millions throng the shrine every year and offer cash as well as other valuables to this goddess as their token of love. However, the temple development board has been trying to utilize the money earned, towards making Vaishno Devi a state of the art pilgrimage center and plan to improve accommodation and travel facilities for the devotees who visit this shrine.
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9. Somnath Temple Gujarat
The Somnath temple, situated in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat, draws a crowd that ranges between one lakh to five lakh people each day, thus resulting in large amounts of offerings in both cash and kind, which includes expensive authentic wear like Saris and Chunaris. The results of a recently conducted survey revealed that the temple has garnered a wealth of around 17,000-million Rupees. According to history, the temple also possessed ornaments and other forms of precious treasure, which caught the attention of the ruler, Mahmud of Ghazni. The Central Asian ruler even ransacked the temple to seize all the wealth stored in it.
Photo Credit http://inspiretourism.com/holiday/gujarath-special/
10. Guruvayurappan Temple, Kerala
This is yet another Vishnu shrine from Kerala, which grabbed the headlines for its wealth and other materialistic possessions. The fortune of the Guruvayurappan temple is around 25,000-million Rupees, making it one of the richest Hindu shrines in the country today. Approximately 40, 000 devotees visit this temple each day and offer huge amounts as donations to their Lord. It is said that these routine donations contribute to the daily revenue of around 25 Lakh Rupees. One of the most popular rituals followed in this temple is the ‘Thulabharam,’ where the devotee is made to sit on a weighing pan. Offerings such as fruits, rice, jiggery, and gold are placed on one side of the beam balance to determine the weight of the person. These offerings are then given to the temple as a token of respect to the God.
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