Puri: Srimandir received Rs 98,85,594 in cash, 203.2 gram of gold and 1,511.240 gram of silver as donations in offertory box (hundi) during the Kartik month that began October 25 and ended November 23, Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) sources said Sunday.
“We collected Rs 5,64,879 in cash from the hundi November 18. That was the highest collection in the month. Similarly, the donation box received around 55.110 gram of gold November 20, which was the month’s highest gold collection. Likewise, devotees, especially Habishyalis, offered the highest quantity of silver, 118.500 gram, November 10 in the donation box,” a senior SJTA official said.
“Devotees, especially Habishyalis, donate cash, ornaments and garments in the temple hundi. In order to ensure transparency, the temple authorities count the offerings on a daily basis,” the official added. He added that the public witnessed the counting on a real-time basis as it was aired on a LED screen installed near the temple administration’s office here.
4-hour darshan ban
Devotees to the Srimandir would not be allowed to have darshan of The Trinity from 5pm to 9pm Monday and Tuesday due to the Paitalagi and Banakalagi rituals, the temple’s public relations officer Laxmidhar Pujapanda said Sunday. “The Paitalagi and Banakalagi are secret rituals due to which the four-hour ban has been imposed,” Pujapanda added.