NE SPIRITUAL BUREAU
CHENNAI, APR 18
Over 1,000 kg of gold articles offered to 21 temples across Tamil Nadu by devotees but lying unused were melted and converted into 24-carat bars and deposited in banks. This investment of gold bars is fetching it an annual interest of Rs 17.81 crore, the government said on Thursday.
Gold articles offered to the temples but not used for the deities were converted into 24-carat bars by melting them in the government mint, Mumbai, and invested in the State Bank of India under the Gold Investment Scheme.
-
Arulmigu Mariamman Temple in Samayapuram, Tiruchirappalli district, contributes the maximum of 4,24,266.491 grams (about 424.26 kg) of gold for the investment scheme.
“The interest accrued from the investment is used for the development of the temples concerned,” a policy note on the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department tabled in the Assembly by Minister P K Sekar Babu, holding the portfolio, said.
Three committees headed by retired justices have been constituted, one each for the three regions in the state to oversee the implementation of the scheme.
Giving details on the investment of gold bars as of March 31, 2025, the note said, “10,74,123.488 pure gold obtained in grams from 21 temples fetched Rs 1,781.25 lakh as interest accruing per year determined according to the value of gold at the time of investment.”
Among the shrines, the Arulmigu Mariamman Temple in Samayapuram, Tiruchirappalli district, contributed the maximum of 4,24,266.491 grams (about 424.26 kg) of gold for the investment scheme.
Permission has been granted to melt the ‘unused and unusable’ silver items in the temples under the control of the HR&CE Department into pure silver bars by the government-approved private silver smelting companies on the premises of the temples in the presence of zonal committees headed by three judges.
“Accordingly, steps are currently being taken to melt the unused silver items in the temples,” it said.
