Meet NRI, Dr. Ravi Krishnamurthy, a Program Manager in Nanotechnology Victoria Ltd., of Australia. Dr Ravi recently donated a cottage in memory of his (late) father at Tirupati. But because his hectic schedule really did not allow for a trip to India at the time, he simply used the more convenient e-Donation option on Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam’s (TTD) website. “The e-Donation option makes the distance from Tirumala for people like us irrelevant,” he told 4Ps B&M.
Varaprasad Pakanati, Associate Manager, GMR group, Bangalore is another happy customer… oops devotee of the e-Seva facility provided by TTD! While his family pays regular visit to Tirumala, Pakanati himself could not take out time for the pilgrimage. “Being in the team of higher echelons at office, my schedules are hectic and time-management during the visits to Tirumala used to become difficult,” he told 4Ps B&M. But that was before e-Sewa came to his rescue. The web based interface allows pilgrims (like Pakanati) to book for various services, minimum three days and maximum 90 days in advance. “That has greatly reduced my toil,” says a visibly happier Pakanati.
In as much, the digital age seems to have given a new lease of life to these iconic temples of religion. D. K. Adikesavulu Naidu, Chairman, TTD told 4Ps B&M, “Devotees can even book the e-Seva and e-Accommodation at Tirumala through the Internet.” To ensure security, the veracity of the identity cards, scanned and submitted via the Internet, are physically verified at the security office at the time of the personal visit.
Seeing the potential and growing number of NRIs and RIs eager to make digital connect with their gods, a rash of fly-by-night operators have rushed in to gate-crash this ‘divine’ party. Talking about online pujas offered by private sites, TTD’s new Executive Officer, I. Y. R. Krishna Rao laments, “Yes! Some private organisations are collecting fees for the on-line puja at Tirupati. It is ridiculous as there’s no way that they are eligible to do so.”
Not that Lord Vekateshwara of Tirupati needed the support of his virtual devotees to retain the honour of the world’s richest god. The lion’s share of the income of the TTD is derived from the sacred ‘Hundi’ – the place where the visiting devotees deposit their offerings in fulfilment of their vows. The bulk of the TTD’s income, Rs.3.43 billion in 2003-04, Rs.3.49 billion in 2004-05, Rs.3.82 billion in 2005-06, Rs.4.81 billion in 2006-07, Rs.6.08 billion in 2007- 08 has now soared to a whopping Rs.8 billion per annum and is derived from these offerings. The collection from the temple hundi at present is not less than Rs.1 crore a day. In fact, it is not uncommon to find huge individual offerings ranging from Rs.50 lakh to Rs.1 crore dropped into the hundi, with rich devotees making spectacular offerings to the Lord. On a single day (May 30, 2009) for instance, the temple’s ‘hundi’ received a record Rs.2 crore worth of donations in cash and jewellery!
And while TTD’s financials are not public and there’s hardly any information about how these funds are used, with that much quick money in their coffers, small surprise that there is a visible enhancement, both in terms of facilities for the devotees as well as TTD’s marketing budgets. There’s in fact even a flourishing audio and video cassettes, compact discs and publications business that is booming alongside, including a religious monthly magazine, Sapthagiri, which is being sold across the country in five languages viz. Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Hindi and English.
The Siddhivinayak temple in Mumbai – that receives around Rs.45 crore as donation annually – is another big revenue earner. Talking to 4Ps B&M, Subhash Mayekar, President of the Sree Siddhivinayak Trust says, “About 40% of our total donation is used for poor people and development.” The temple premises, set in the heart of India’s financial capital, plays host to around 25,000 visitors everyday, while thousands visit the temple via virtual channel. Marketing is now acquiring bigger proportions in the temples annual budget. “We are building waiting halls – five storey buildings equipped with a library – which can accommodate 5,000 devotees,” adds Mayekar. Having roped in TATA SKY as their marketing partner, the temple has recently also ventured into mobile marketing as another way to attract customers (read: devotees) into its arms. The temple has even gone ahead to release a movie based on the deity titled Vighnaharta Shree Siddhivinayak. Marketed by Vistaas Media and Eros International, the producers have been able to rope in Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar, Divya Dutta and Parmeet Sethi for the movie.
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