Culture
Karnataka Temples Collect Over Rs 80 Lakh Through E-Hundi System In Just Four Months
The Chamundeshwari Temple, located at Chamundi hills in Mysuru, registered the third-highest collection of all temples in Karnataka through e-hundi since its introduction. (Photo: Sanjay Acharya/Wikimedia Commons)
The introduction of e-hundis, an electronic donation collection system, in temples across Karnataka has been met with success.
Introduced by the endowment department, the initiative encourages the use of QR codes, which allow individuals to scan and donate funds to temples in a transparent and accountable way.
In just four months since launch, temples across 21 districts in the state have earned over Rs 80.2 lakh through the e-hundi system.
This has been largely due to the transparency provided by the system, which ensures that money donated is directly deposited into the accounts of the temples in question.
This process enables the easy accounting of funds and ensures that there is no room for discrepancies or inaccuracies when it comes to accounting for the money collected.
The introduction of the e-hundi has proved popular with devotees, who have been increasingly showing interest in the initiative over the past few months.
Recent audits have highlighted the high revenue generated by such temples, with 205 category A and B temples earning nearly Rs 450 crore in just one year, according to The Times of India.
Of these, the famous Kukke Subrahmanya temple has earned the highest revenue (around Rs 74.2 crore), with temples from Dakshina Kannada earning the highest revenue of all districts (Rs 150 crore).
While Kalaburagi's Dattatreya temple has so far collected the most through the initiative, with nearly Rs 9 lakh deposited directly into its bank account, a district-wise analysis shows that temples in Dakshina Kannada received more than double the amount collected by those in Kalaburagi.
Other districts that have performed well in terms of electronic collections include Mysuru, Mandya, and Tumakuru.
Two temples from the Bengaluru region have also featured high on the list, with the Banashankari temple in Bengaluru Urban and Ghati Subrahmanya in Bengaluru Rural collectively earning over Rs 3 lakh via the e-hundi system.
