OMG! Shirdi temple receives offerings worth over Rs 11-cr in a week

Shirdi (Mah), Jan 3: The famous Shirdi Saibaba temple in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra, has received offerings worth Rs 11.50 crore including gold and silver ornaments during the year-end festive week beginning December 25, officials said.

Dilip Zirpe, Chief Accounts Officer of Shri Saibaba Sansthan told PTI that the temple received the offerings in the form of donations, cash, demand drafts, online money orders besides foreign currency and other valuables from eight lakh devotees across India and abroad till January 1, 2015.

After enumerating the offerings yesterday, Sansthan said that it received Rs 6.90 crore in its cash boxes; Rs 68 lakh worth gold ornaments; Rs 4 lakh worth silverware and the rest in the form of donations, foreign currencies, drafts and money orders.

According to Zirpe, the Sansthan earned the highest, a total of Rs 4.53 crore between December 30 and January 1.

Atleast 92,100 devotees took 'darshan' of Saibaba on January 1, while nearly 6 lakh pilgrims visited the temple during the week, Sansthan sources said.

PTI