There is no wonder that India is known as the ‘Land of Temples’. Among the religiously fanatic Indian masses, there are innumerable Gods and Goddesses and hence there are various options for pilgrims in India.
Due to the cultural importance and magnificent heritage of these temples, tourists of varied beliefs and religions visit the temple and pay their reverence to their gods.Given below are some of the wealthiest temples of India:
1. Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple
Sree Padmanabha Swamy temple, located in the city of Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, attracts large number of tourists from all over the world.
The discovery of hidden treasure of 1,00,000 crore along with sacks filled with precious diamonds, in the underground crypts of the temple made it the richest temple in the country.
There are numerous extremely priceless antiques used for the decoration of the temple, apart from the discovered hidden wealth, and hence the net worth of the temple must be enormous.
2. Tirupati Temple
The Tirupati temple, in Andhra Pradesh, is known to fulfill wishes of all those who visit the temple and pray the Lord with a clear conscience.
According to myths, Lord Balaji who used to reside in the Tirupati temple had to pay massive loan to Kuber, the God’s treasurer,which he took to pay his wedding expenses.
The myth suggests that Lord balaji is still paying his debt and hence devotees give huge donations in cash or kind to the temple. The magnificent temple in India is also visited on a regular basis by some celebrities including Anil Ambani and Amitabh Bachhan.
3. Shirdi Sai Baba Temple
The third richest temple in the country, Shiridi Sai Baba Temple, located in Shirdi is one of the most popular pilgrimage sites in India.
The irony is that the temple is dedicated to biggest advocate of poverty, Shri Sai Baba, who lived his life as a ‘fakir’ and took begging as the way to earn his daily expenses and as a mode of livelihood.
But, today the idol of Shri Sai Baba is garnered with priceless jewellery. Devotees from all religions visit the temple daily to pay their respects.
4. Siddhivinayak Temple
One of the most famous temples of India, Siddhivinayak Temple in Mumbai, is a Hindu temple devoted to Lord Ganesha.
The temple welcomes devotees from all around the country and the world to attend religious ceremonies throughout the day and to pay their respects to the Lords.
Various renowned celebrities visit the temple on a regular basis including Amitabh Bachchan, Sachin Tendulkar, Madhuri Dixit etc.
5. Golden Temple
The name of the Golden Temple, in Amritsar in the state of Punjab, itself reflects a sense of wealth. The Temple is a religious worship place for people believing in Sikh religion, and is adorned with precious gold and silver and hence the term ‘golden’ is attached with the temple.
The temple, because of the beautiful decorations with gold, attracts tourists from all parts of the world.
Written By Karan Saxena
Very nice post karan,Tirupathi one of the richest temple in south india.If anybody never visit in tirupathi,Please visit wonderful place.
I Happy to know about our Indian Temples. They have different impotence/qualities regarding history, region, and culture. i respect our Temples.Thanks.
Hello Nikhil.
This case is not prevalent only in India.
Read the history of Vatican city and Christianity and see the role played by the green paper in propagation of religion all across the universe.
Religion has never been just about faith… It is simply an organization that earns big bucks by exploiting the very faith that it preaches.
And the more one reads about religion, the more one figures out that man has never worshipped anyone but themselves.
But you must visit these temples in India for they are architecturally delightful!
Here's some food for thought:
And here's some food for thought:
Padmanabha Swamy Temple total asset is around US$22.3 billion
Tirupati's Venkateswara deity is clad with about 1000kgs of gold!
Every day around 150,000 laddus are made at the temple to serve the devotess
The revenue from the sale of laddu annually is more than 11 million rupees.
It is said that people drop bags of gold and at times even diamonds at the feet of Sri Venkateshwara.
Around 50,000 pilgrims visit the temple every day and
The temple gets up to Rs 650 crore in donations every year.
The temple gets donations worth Rs 350 crore every year.
Shirdi Saibaba Sansthan put their annual income at Rs 320 crore
I wonder why politicians always talk about bringing back the black money…how about getting some of this white and yellow money back into economy for public welfare??
Wow! Now this is rich. I had thought that temples and gurus taught us moderation and abstinence but after reading this post, it appears that these temples are more of a bank locker.
I didn't knew that god and his representatives actually love yellow metal and unabashedly stash millions and billions and then preach that the poor of the country should be content for in the other world his lord will reward him for his devotion.
This is gross commercialization of faith and religion. Public beware of these preacher who play in billions and travel in SUVs and cars worth crores and stay in air conditioned ashrams. Now that’s something for abstinence.