Lucky 13 millionaire temples in Himachal

It's not only the scenic resorts of Himachal Pradesh which attract visitors, it is also the fast-growing pilgrimage centres that woo the devout.

A proof of this is the growing donations into the coffers of the well-known temples dotting the hill state, which is making these shrines wealthier every year.

According to the latest count of donations including cash and jewellery carried out by the state government for last year (2005), there are atleast 13 temples who have annual donation income of at least a million rupees.

"The Chintpurni temple in Una district leads with an annual income of 20.87 crore in  cash in 2005 and almost 25 kg of gold and 9 quintals of silver as donation in the last three years( rpt gold and silver in the 3 years)," said the state chief minister Virbhadra Singh in the state assembly over the weekend.

The Chintpurni hindu goddess temple has been the richest temple for long in the state. Located at the edge of the Kangra valley in Una district some 250 km from here.

Four other temples which complete the goddess(devi) circuit in lower Himachal including the Jwalamukhi or goddess with a mouth of fire, along with Chamunda,Brajeshwari, and Naina Devi temples have annual donations jointly( rpt jointly) amounting to around Rs 14 core in cash in a year and liberal amounts of gold and silver as well.

The Balak Nath temple in Hamirpur district devoted to a local celibate herder boy also attracts hordes of pilgrims and has around Rs 7.17 crore in cash donations alone. Other temples making over a million in cash are Shahtalai,Hatkoti,Tara devi, Trilokpur and Sankat Mochan.

The state government runs 27 well known temples in the state with a team of officials of the state government and the local priests in each temple.

But there are over a thousand smaller temples which are run by local priests and village elders for centuries and are outside the purview of the government.

Unlike the larger temples, little is known about these smaller temples, some of which are several hundred years old and the devotees donate liberally in cash and kind.

There have also been cases of rising thefts in some temples in recent years.

The state government is considering installing alarm bells in some of the state run temples to keep thieves away.