Offerings at Himachal temples dip by 90%
The offerings at the state’s major shrines, which earlier ran into crores of rupees is down to a trickle
DHARAMSHALA/HAMIRPUR: Not only the state’s ordinary citizens, even the shrines in Himachal Pradesh, also called the ‘Land of Gods’, have been hit by covid-19, as the deities continue to in lockdown. The offerings at the state’s major shrines, which earlier ran into crores of rupees is down to a trickle, since temple doors were shut on March 17. The state government controls 34 temples, including the major ones in Bi las pur,U na, Kangra and Ham ir p ur. compared to an income of ₹12.9 crore at the Baba Balak Nath Temple, Deot Sidh, in Hamirpur, one of the richest shrines in Himachal, between April and July 2019, the income in the corresponding period this year has been ₹1.1 crore — a drop of more than 90%.
“The income includes online offerings and from the properties that the temple trust owns,” said Hamirpur deputy commissioner Harikesh Meena. The temple trust has ₹16.7 crore cash, ₹28.4 crore in fixed deposits, besides 26.6kg of gold and 3.8quintal silver. Meena added that the Baba Balak Nath Temple Trust also donated ₹5-crore to the covid relief fund.
The earnings of the Jwalamukhi Temple in Kangra between April and August 2020 were ₹65.5 lakh, compared to ₹6.7 crore in the corresponding period last year.
Jwalamukhi shrine has ₹3.4 crore cash deposit, ₹20.8 crore in fixed deposits, 23.3kg gold and 8.9quintal silver. The earnings at the Bajreshwari Devi Temple, Kangra, were just ₹34.9 lakh in last five months, compared to ₹3.75 crore last year.
Last year, the earnings of Chamunda Nandikeshwar Dham, Chamunda, were just ₹10.8 crore. This year, its income, including offerings, was ₹2.8 crore. jwalamukhi Temple donated ₹1cr to covid-19 relief fund. The Bajreshwari Devi temple contributed ₹50 lakh, besides spending ₹22.1 lakh on providing food and other facilities at quarantine centres. Chamunda Temple spent ₹1.65 lakh on food and logistics at quarantine centres. Kangra district magistrate Rakesh Kumar Prajapati, who is also the commissioner of temple trusts of government-controlled shrines in the district, said offerings at temples increase during festivals. “Temples have been closed for the public since March, even during the navratris and the month of Shravana. Temples received minor offerings through online,” said Prajapati.
Temples to open on Sept 10, with SOPS
The Himachal Pradesh cabinet in its meeting on Friday decided to open temples, and other religious places like gurdwaras and mosques from September 10.
The language, art and culture department has been entrusted with the task to prepare the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPS) for opening of temples and to decide on measures to be put in place to prevent the spread of covid-19.
Prajapati said they had proposed the use of thermal scanners at entry gates. “We have proposed disallowing offerings of water and flowers. Devotees will not be allowed to touch gates, doors and bells,” he said.