Author: Neha Dewan, Purva Bhatia & Surbhi
Goel
Publication: The Economic Times
Date: April 20, 2008
URL: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/2964677.cms
He steps were teeming with hundreds of people.
Gangaram stood there, stunned. Then with a sigh of reverence, he approached
a barber and sat down, his hands folded. It was a dream come true for this
thirty-year-old farmer from Chennai. Not everyday can you shave off your head
in the mighty shadow of the Lord Venkateswara Temple at Tirumala.
But as the barber swiftly went about his work,
little did Gangaram and the hundreds of devotees around him realise that they
were helping the richest temple in the world get richer by a few hundred crore
of rupees.
In fact, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams(TTD),
the trust that manages the famous hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara temple,
is planning to float global tenders for the sale of hair, targeting a revenue
of over Rs 230 crore!
Temple trusts
In a practice that sees millions of devotees
offering their hair to the Lord every year, the long standing 'tonsure' ritual
also brings in the necessary revenue for TTD. As per media reports, TTD has
approved a budget of Rs 1,925 crore for the fiscal year 2008-09. The auction
of hair, a major revenue generator for the temple trust, finds a good number
of takers in India as well as abroad. Last year, auctions of human hair fetched
a neat revenue of approximately $25 million.
And that's not all. TTD has also kept itself
in tune with the latest technologies like e-seva, e-hundi, online auction
of hair, virtual queue system and even procuring machines to automate the
manufacture of ladoos! Besides the sale of hair, the hundi service (contributing
to the Hundi of Lord Venkateswara), the sale of ladoos, VIP tickets and extravagant
donations also rake in a good revenue.
How faith market moves
Hair-raising - Rs 230 cr - is what Lord Venkateswara
Temple, the richest in the world, is targeting as revenue for selling devotees'
hair
Trustworthy - Rs 1,925 cr - has been approved
by Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, the trust that manages Lord Venkateswara
Temple, as budget for fiscal 2008-09
Monument of money - Rs 200 cr - has been the
cost of building Akshardham temple in Delhi. It has even made it to the Guinness
Book of world Records for being the world's largest comprehensive Hindu temple
and is spread over 100 acres and sees 70,000-80,000 visitors a week
High on devotion - Rs 474 cr - is what Mata
Vaishno Devi Shrine generates a year. It offers many services online, including
bhaint, prasad, pooja as well as donations. Online donations alone fetched
Rs 2 crore last year
Sweet scent - Rs 27 cr - was Siddhivinayak
Temple's revenue in 2006-07. Its prasad sales go up to Rs 2 crore a year and
sells at least 20,000 laddoos a day
It's music - $800 mn - is the expected size
of India's mobile music market by 2009 and 15-20% would be spiritual and religious
downloads
New chapter - 30% - is the rise in demand
for spiritual as well as mythological books. The prices of these books start
from Rs 350 and go up to Rs 5,000. Comic books based on mythology are attracting
kids
There are other temple trusts like TTD that
have been managing religious institutions all over the world. The Bochasanvasi
Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sansthan (BAPS), known for its traditional
hand-carved stone temples across the world, has built over 700 temples and
3,300 centres worldwide.