Gujarat: Pray from home leads to dip in temples' income

AHMEDABAD: Not just people, even the Lords’ incomes are shrinking due to uncertainty unleashed by the corona pandemic. Major temples in Gujarat namely Somnath , Dwarka, Dakor and Ambaji that used to be thronged by devotees during this time of the year are reporting extremely thin attendance. Resulting, monthly earnings of the temple trusts have plummeted by 90-95%.

Most of these temples opened doors to devotees on June 8 after an extended lockdown since March 23. With strict social distancing norms in place, all the temples had even started an online darshan appointment system to avoid crowding. However, with Covid cases rising across the state and trains suspended, devotee influx at the pilgrimages is thin at best.

On Monday, Dakor temple decided to shut its door indefinitely after infections were detected in the temple's neighbourhood. “The temple will be closed till further notice due to corona cases in the vicinity,” said manager Arvind Mehta .

After it opened after lockdown, the temple saw daily footfalls reduce sharply from average 5,000 devotees pre-Covid-19 to 1,500 during the unlock period. The income of the temple also fell from Rs 1crore per month to only Rs 2 lakh the past month.

Somnath temple, which sees a flood of devotees during Shravan month beginning Tuesday, has seen its monthly income drop from Rs 3-3.5 crore to merely Rs 17 lakh the past month. The temple employs nearly 650 people whose salary comes to an estimated Rs 1 crore per month.

“People fear travelling due to Covid. Trains are also not fully operational cutting down significantly on inflow of devotees from other parts of India especially the south. We are expecting more devotees during Shravan,” said Vijaysiinh Chavda, general manager of Somnath temple.

Devotees dwindle from 4k to 1,500 per day at Ambaji temple

In Ambaji, one of the 52 shakti peethas in India, the number of devotees has dwindled from 4,000 to 1,500 per day while the earnings have plummeted from average Rs 5 crore per month to nearly 30 lakh in June-July.

“The forthcoming Bhadarvi poonam sees some 25 lakh devotees coming for Mataji's darshan. The government is still to decide whether the fair will be permitted in the wake of the Corona pandemic," said Chavda.

The Dwarka temple in Saurashtra also wears a rather empty look these days. Pre-Covid-19, nearly 5,000 devotees would offer prayers here daily which had dwindled to 1,200-1,500, according to trustee and Devbhumi Dwarka collector Narendra Kumar Meena who says it is mostly locals who visit the temple now. The income too has dropped sharply from average Rs 1 crore per month to Rs 15-17 lakh.