In 1843, with the coming of the Madras Presidency, the administration of the Sri Venkateswara Temple and a number of shrines was entrusted to Seva Dossji of the Hathiramji Mutt at Tirumala as Vicaranakarta for nearly a century until the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) was established as a result of the TTD Act in 1932. After independence Andhra state was created on linguistic grounds, wherein Tirupati which had and still has a majority of Telugu speaking population was assigned by Govt. of India, integrating it as part of Andhra. TTD is operated by a Board of Trustees that has increased in size from five (1951) to fifteen (1987) through the adoption of Acts. The daily operation and management of TTD is the responsibility of an executive officer who is appointed by the government of Andhra Pradesh. The temple attracts approximately 75,000 pilgrims every day The annual budget, estimated at Rs 10 billion in 2008, runs charitable trusts whose funds are derived from the budget and donations from the devotees. TTD is operated by a Board of Trustees, and has increased in size through adoption of various Acts from five in 1951 to fifteen in 1987. The operations and management of TTD is the responsibility of an Executive Officer (EO), who is appointed by the government of Andhra Pradesh. The temple attracts, on an average of approximately 60,000 pilgrims every day. The popularity of the temple can be judged by its annual budget. The annual income is estimated at INR 10 billion in 2008. Most of its income is derived from the donations in SriVari Hundi. Devotees donate to the TTD, which runs into the millions of rupees. TTD, the organisation running the welfare of the temple, runs various charitable trusts, whose funds are derived from the budget, and donations from the devotees Many devotees have their head tonsured as Mokku, an offering to God. The daily amount of hair collected is over a ton.The hair thus gathered is sold by the temple organisation a few times a year by public auction to international buyers for use as hair extensions and in cosmetics, bringing over $6 million to the temples treasury. This is the second highest income generating activity in the temple next to the Hundi Collection. When Lord Balaji was hit on his head by a shepherd, a small portion of his scalp became bald. This was noticed by Neela Devi, aGandharva princess. She felt such an attractive face should not have a flaw. Immediately, she cut a portion of her hair and, with her magical power, implanted it on his scalp. Lord Balaji noticed her sacrifice. As hair is a beautiful asset of the female form, he promised her that all his devotees who come to his abode would offer their hair to him, and she would be the recipient of all the hair received. Hence, it is believed that hair offered by the devotees is accepted by Neela Devi. The hill, Neeladri, one of the seven hills, is named after her. Source: Wikipedia (however, official income mentioned is far far more than mentioned here. even a common man can calculate it)
Posted on: Wed, 13 Nov 2013 16:23:21 +0000