A mystery devotee has left 20 ‘gold biscuits’ at the hundi of the Tirumala Thirupathi Devasthanam Temple, reported a temple official on Sunday. They were said to weigh 2 kg and were found on Saturday, when the officials were counting the day’s collection at the temple.
Singhal, who is an official in the temple trust committee, said that about 2.5 lakh devotees thronged the shrine during the month. Meanwhile, about 67,000 devotees, who had booked tickets online for worship, did not visit the temple for different reasons, including COVID-19 related issues, Singhal said.
The TTD trust runs the centuries-old temple, and the total cash offerings, excluding the gold biscuits, amounted to ₹16.7 crore post the reopening of the temple after the lockdown was released. Around 91 members of the temple trust have been tested positive for coronavirus ever since the reopening of the temple, when 3,569 employees were tested.
Meanwhile, the total coronavirus cases in Andhra Pradesh stands at 25,422, while the death toll is at 292.
(Source: PTI, Livemint)