The diamond-studded crown gifted to Lord Venkateswara may be the latest, most publicised gift, but it is by no means the only valuable offering...
The Rs 42 crore diamond-studded 2.5 feet tall crown gifted by Karnataka tourism minister Gali Janardhan Reddy on Thursday could be the most significant contribution to Lord Venkateswara's ever growing wealth of gifts but the Lord of the Seven Hills has by now become so familiar with these riches that few are surprised by this latest offering. His riches are such that they are guarded by armed security personnel in a treasury, the location of which remains a closely guarded secret by top brass of the temple . With the total worth of the offerings made to the Lord estimated to be somewhere between Rs 30,000 crore to Rs 50,000 crore, the deity's title of the 'Richest Lord of Kaliyuga' is not without reason.
Devotees enrich Tirumala treasury
While Gali's gift was the seventh crown offered to the Lord, the earlier crowns in his glittering kitty were no small gifts either. In the past, Sri Venkateswara Hatcheries ' owner had gifted a gold crown weighing 13 kg and another business tycoon gifted a 10 kg gold crown. In 2001, an industrialist from Pune had donated a pure gold crown weighing about 14.3 kg costing nearly Rs 1 crore.
Gold and diamond-studded gifts have been streaming into the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam's coffer regularly, more so in the last three to five years. From a diamond parrot to a golden prawn, the 'Srivari Hundi' is glittering like never before since the beginning of this millennium. The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) officials say that the donations have touched an all time high mark since 2005.
In 2005, a businessman from Tamil Nadu donated a valuable golden crown studded with precious American diamonds to the processional deity of Lord Malayappa Swamy, the cost of which was estimated as Rs 2 crore. In 2006, Lord Venkateswara received his most precious set of ear rings (Karnaabharanaalu) when a devotee from Chennai, Alagappa Chettiyar offered diamond studded Karna Patralu worth Rs.1.01 crore and if this offering wasn't enough he went on to give a 'Sahasranamakasulaharam' , golden chain worth over Rs 50 lakh to Goddess Padamavathi.
And in April 2009, when the world was reeling under the meltdown and real estate activity was still at a standstill, a cement baron donated Rs 5 crore worth gloves, Kati and Varada Hastam, to Lord Venkateswara. Not too long ago, a business tycoon from Pune offered a diamond studded parrot and 'Nagabharanams' worth Rs 1.5 crore. Not to be left behind, the King of good times, UB Group Chairman Vijay Mallya donated Rs 7 crores towards the gold plating inside the sanctum sanctorum about three years ago. And last year, when gold prices went through the roof, a Hyderabad-based businessman Rajendran offered Rs 1.7 crore worth Lakshmi Haram (a garland of gold coins) to the deity while another Bangalore-based businessman donated a diamond crown to Goddess Padmavati which was worth Rs. 1 crore.
The not-so-rich, small humble gifts are also quite a booty at TTD. Devotees promising replicas of their limbs in gold if their wish of a cure to an ailing hand or leg is fulfilled, or businessmen dropping gold and silver replicas of cigar packets, liquor bottles, watches, shoes (offerings reflective of the work they do) in the hundi are fairly common. Even smaller offerings such as gold chains etc are collected and sent to the Bombay Mint and the gold melted and sent back to TTD. Some gold is converted into a given number of coins, which is then sold by the temple at the market rate.
Jewel's Day Out
While there are no exact estimates of the value of the jewellery of Lord Venkateswara, since many of these gifts have a high antique value, temple sources peg the entire jewellery property to be worth anywhere between Rs.30,000 crore and Rs 50,000 crore.
All these precious jewels are safe guarded inside the sanctum sanctorum at a sacred hall called Bokkasam (Jewel Gallery), which is guarded by half a dozen armed security personnel and has CCTV cameras installed to monitor every movement in arguably one of the world's richest treasury. There is, in fact, a Thiruvabharanam (holy jewels) register meant to list out the jewellery items. The register has been maintained strictly for gold and diamond studded offerings from the time TTD took over charge of the temple in 1933.
The precious jewels leave the treasury only on special occasions - auspicious days when the Lord is adorned in the diamond-studded love of his devotees. For such auspicious days, the temple priests give the list of jewels needed for the Lord's decoration a day in advance to the temple peshkar and Bokkasam-in-charge. They, under the supervision of temple deputy executive officer, assistant executive officer, and in the strict vigil of security personnel, open the Thiruvabharanam box and take out the items. These items are later returned in the same manner.
Showing posts with label rich. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rich. Show all posts
Saturday
Rs 42 crore for God, Mr MLA? How much for man?
Gali Janardhan Reddy is a very pious man and he must now think he has just bought a one way ticket to heaven after gifting Lord Venkateswara at Tirupati a diamond-studded crown that came for a staggering Rs 42 crore. Of course, the crown is heavy at 20 kg and would probably break the neck of the God if He ever attempted to wear it.
But then Reddy, Karnataka's tourism minister and Bellary mine baron, doesn't give the impression that he is a very sensitive man. Had he been, he would have set aside most of the money that went into procuring 32kg of 'aparanji (pure)' gold, 70,000 diamonds weighing 4,000 carats and a huge 890-carat emerald from Africa, to some trust that benefited fellow human beings in his impoverished country - a surer ticket, I am sure, to heaven if there be one.
This display of superfluous piety, in stark contrast to the deprivation faced by millions of us all around, merely underlines two very important aspects of our society - the misplaced sense of benevolence and the utter lack of a culture of true charity in India. Why is this so in our country? In January, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation edged past Britain's Wellcome Trust to become the largest in the world, with assets of $21.8 billion. The Microsoft man has given away most of his fortune to those in need and says he will give more.
According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, Andrew Carnegie donated - to man, not God - $350 million before he died in 1919, a sum that would be worth about $3 billion today. John D Rockefeller contributed $540 million to various organizations before his death in 1937, an amount that would be more than $6 billion today. It would be interesting to know how much our rich, the Ambanis, Mittals, Birlas, Tatas, Hindujas, Premjis et al, have given to the cause of humanity.
This is a problem with Indians. They will look upwards and give money to God to drive away their sins, ensure a safe seat in heaven or a comfortable life in case they are reincarnated, but they will not glance around and dig a well for the thirsty hordes, set up a free kitchen for the hungry millions or build schools for the innumerable illiterates. And there cannot be a greater irony. According to a government census, just Kolkata has about 1, 27,000 of the absolute poor, of which 67,000 have no shelter. Internationally, an income of less than $1 per day per head is defined as extreme poverty. By this estimate, about 45% of Indians are extremely poor. That's half the country, Mr Reddy. If the daily income per head is less than $2, then the family is described as poor. This would mean about 80% of Indians.
Even now, after all these years of "growth", the per capita income is 2,500 per month. For a family of five that boils down to Rs 500 per head, which is less Rs 20 a day for food, shelter and water, forget luxuries like electricity. In the cursed KBK belt of Orissa (Kalahandi-Bolangir-Koraput), people still eat poisonous mango kernels when they are starving and the mortality rate is a highly disturbing 140 per 1,000. But I haven't seen either politicians like Reddy or businessmen exactly lining up to mitigate the misery.
Reddy's offering, and to be fair he's just one of the rich who lavish their wealth on God, has added to a Tirupati kitty that already holds over 11 tonnes of gold ornaments, making Lord Venkateswara one of the richest in the world. That's indeed a very rich God in a very poor country.
One last word, Mr Reddy. I do hope for your sake that you see the Lord wearing your diamond crown strutting away in all glory when you meet your maker. Till then, will you please dedicate your next offering to the poor and hungry.
But then Reddy, Karnataka's tourism minister and Bellary mine baron, doesn't give the impression that he is a very sensitive man. Had he been, he would have set aside most of the money that went into procuring 32kg of 'aparanji (pure)' gold, 70,000 diamonds weighing 4,000 carats and a huge 890-carat emerald from Africa, to some trust that benefited fellow human beings in his impoverished country - a surer ticket, I am sure, to heaven if there be one.
This display of superfluous piety, in stark contrast to the deprivation faced by millions of us all around, merely underlines two very important aspects of our society - the misplaced sense of benevolence and the utter lack of a culture of true charity in India. Why is this so in our country? In January, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation edged past Britain's Wellcome Trust to become the largest in the world, with assets of $21.8 billion. The Microsoft man has given away most of his fortune to those in need and says he will give more.
According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, Andrew Carnegie donated - to man, not God - $350 million before he died in 1919, a sum that would be worth about $3 billion today. John D Rockefeller contributed $540 million to various organizations before his death in 1937, an amount that would be more than $6 billion today. It would be interesting to know how much our rich, the Ambanis, Mittals, Birlas, Tatas, Hindujas, Premjis et al, have given to the cause of humanity.
This is a problem with Indians. They will look upwards and give money to God to drive away their sins, ensure a safe seat in heaven or a comfortable life in case they are reincarnated, but they will not glance around and dig a well for the thirsty hordes, set up a free kitchen for the hungry millions or build schools for the innumerable illiterates. And there cannot be a greater irony. According to a government census, just Kolkata has about 1, 27,000 of the absolute poor, of which 67,000 have no shelter. Internationally, an income of less than $1 per day per head is defined as extreme poverty. By this estimate, about 45% of Indians are extremely poor. That's half the country, Mr Reddy. If the daily income per head is less than $2, then the family is described as poor. This would mean about 80% of Indians.
Even now, after all these years of "growth", the per capita income is 2,500 per month. For a family of five that boils down to Rs 500 per head, which is less Rs 20 a day for food, shelter and water, forget luxuries like electricity. In the cursed KBK belt of Orissa (Kalahandi-Bolangir-Koraput), people still eat poisonous mango kernels when they are starving and the mortality rate is a highly disturbing 140 per 1,000. But I haven't seen either politicians like Reddy or businessmen exactly lining up to mitigate the misery.
Reddy's offering, and to be fair he's just one of the rich who lavish their wealth on God, has added to a Tirupati kitty that already holds over 11 tonnes of gold ornaments, making Lord Venkateswara one of the richest in the world. That's indeed a very rich God in a very poor country.
One last word, Mr Reddy. I do hope for your sake that you see the Lord wearing your diamond crown strutting away in all glory when you meet your maker. Till then, will you please dedicate your next offering to the poor and hungry.
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