Shirdi temple receives Rs 4 crore as donation

SLUG: During Four-Day Programme

Nashik: Around 2.25 lakh devotees visited the Saibaba Samadhi Temple in Shirdi during the four-day-long 101st anniversary programme that ended on Thursday.

The Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust (SSST) said during the four days the temple received around Rs 4 crore as donations through various modes of payment.

The SSST had organised the event from October 7 to October 10 to commemorate the death anniversary of Sai Baba. According to Deepak Muglikar, a trust official, every year during Dasara thousands of pilgrims from across the country rush to Shirdi to pay their obeisance to Sai Baba. They also donate handsomely to the trust and the same funds are utilized for various developmental activities.

The donation box was opened after the four-day event and the amount collected was Rs 1,73,85,416. A total of Rs 91,03,474 were received over the counter while Rs 1,08,76,450 were received through debit/credit cards, online payment, cheques, demand drafts and money orders.

Other than this, 375.930 gram of gold worth Rs 12.67 lakh and 3110.350 gram silver worth Rs 83,000 was also received. Around Rs 4,70,903 were received as donation in foreign currencies from 19 countries.

Besides, Rs 85.53 lakh was received through the paid and online passes and also in the form of cash and kind in the kitchen and proceeds from the ladoos sold to the pilgrims.

“At Shri Sai Prasadalaya, over 2 lakh devotees were offered prasad of which 1.02 lakh packets of ladoos were sold for Rs 25.54 lakh. Also over two lakh free packets of sweets were distributed among the devotees by the trust,” the official said.

Moreover, accommodation arrangements were made for 58,374 devotees at Sai Ashram Bhakt Niwas and other rest rooms on the ashram premises. “The SSST received overall proceeds including donation up to Rs 4.77 crore in these four days,” the official added.