Kerala's Guruvayur Temple Has Rs 1,737 Crore Bank Deposits, 271 Acres Of Land; No Assistance Received From Pinarayi Government: Reveals RTI
Guruvayur Krishna TempleSnapshot
The Kerala High Court had directed the state government to return Rs 10 crore to the Devaswom board for donations made during the floods in 2018-19.
However, the RTI reveals that the money has not yet been received by the board.
A Right to Information (RTI) query filed by MK Haridas, a devotee and resident of Guruvayur town in Thrissur district has revealed that the Guruvayur Sri Krishna Temple has Rs 1,737 crore in bank deposits and 271 acres of land.
The value of the land is not known as the Devaswom board which manages the temple is yet to estimate it. The board also refused to divulge the value and details of the gold, silver and precious stones in its possession due to security issues.
The RTI reply also said that the temple had not received any aid from the state government after the Pinarayi Vijayan led Left Democratic Front (LDF) came to power in 2016.
Regarding the High Court order which directed the state government to return Rs 10 crore to the board for donations made during the floods in 2018-19, the RTI reply said that the money has not yet been received by the board.
When asked as to what prompted him to file the RTI query regarding the temple's assets, Haridas said constant neglect and inaction of the board in terms of the development of the shrine and the welfare of its devotees forced him to seek these details.
He alleged that the board is running a hospital but its condition is pathetic. Further, he said that the board was reluctant to set up a garden to source flowers for the daily rituals in the shrine and look into the issues faced in the distribution of prasadam.
The Devaswom authorities are yet to react to the allegations.
(With inputs from PTI)
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