NE NEWS SERVICE
TIRUPATI, JULY 12
An unidentified devotee has offered 20 gold biscuits to the shrine of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala Hills, near here, a top official of the temple said on Sunday.
Holy Shrine of #Tirumala #Tirupati Devastanam backs to new normal. Pilgrims have offered 16.73cr to the Hundi since the Temple was opened. 1.64 lakhs devotees had the #lordBalaji's #Darshan, and 13.36 lakhs laddu Prasadam was sold since June 11th. #AndhraPradesh pic.twitter.com/OZETRhBFk2
— Balakrishna – The Journalist (@Balakrishna096) July 12, 2020
The gold biscuits totally weighing 2 kg were found in the ”hundi” (offering box) on Saturday when the day’s collection was being counted, executive officer of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Anil Kumar Singhal said. The TTD governs the ancient hill temple.
The total cash offerings amounted to Rs 16.7 crore during the last one month after the shrine was re-opened on June 11 following the coronavirus lockdown, Singhal said. About 2.5 lakh devotees thronged the shrine during the month, he said.
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.
As many as 91 TTD staff members in the hills have tested positive for the virus so far after tests were conducted on 3,569 employees, he added.
