The Ayodhya controversy has drawn attention to how India’s biggest temples collect, count and safeguard thousands of crores each year. And what happens when those systems failSabarimala Temple, KeralaSabarimala Sree Ayyappa Temple, believed to be centuries old, is one of Kerala’s most prominent shrines, and among the few temples in India open to all faiths. Its current structure dates largely to a 1950 rebuild following a fire.Footfall & revenue | The 2025-26 Mandala-Makaravilakku season drew roughly 53 lakh pilgrims and generated Rs 440 crore, up from Rs 380 crore the previous season.CONTROVERSYGold theft | On Sept 10, 2025, the Sabarimala special commissioner told Kerala HC that gold cladding from the Dwarapalakas and Peedams had been removed on Sept 7 for repair without prior court intimation.A check against a 2019 renovation found items returned weighed 38.3kg, a shortfall of 4.5kg, and that Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) records had falsely logged 1.5kg gold used in 1999 as “copper plates”.HC ordered a court-monitored SIT probe in Oct 2025, flagging serious lapses in TDB record-keeping. In early July 2026, SIT told HC its probe into the doorframe gold cladding was complete. SIT named seven people, alleging criminal breach of trust, forgery and conspiracy: the Sabarimala executive officer, the sponsor, a Chennai-based contractor, the TDB president, a TDB board member, the chief priest (thantri), and the Thiruvabharanam commissioner.
Devotees throng at the Sabarimala temple, in Pathanamthitta.
Amongst the arrested include former MLA and senior CPM leader A Padmakumar.Tirumala, Andhra PradeshLord Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple, atop Tirumala hills in Tirupati, is about 1,500 years old. Some believe it was constructed in the 3rd century.Footfall & Revenue | Between 80,000 and 1 lakh devotees visit the temple every day, making it one of India’s most visited. The temple is one of the richest in the world, with daily hundi donations ranging between Rs 4 crore and Rs 6 crore. The total hundi collection in 2025-26 was Rs 1,738 crore. It also gets 1,000kg to 1,200kg gold each year. Donations are counted daily, the only temple in India to do so.Controversies
- In April 2023, computer operator C V
Ravi Kumar , with the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams’ (TTD ) vigilance and security wing, was caught over “unusual behaviour” during donation-counting. After thorough frisking, it was found that Ravi Kumar had tried to steal $900 (Rs 72,000) by concealing the foreign currency inside his underwear. He was handed over to cops. - It was later found that Ravi Kumar had been stealing donations regularly and investing it in real estate. Even as the police investigation was on, he and his family donated seven of their landed properties, worth about Rs 40 crore, to TTD.
- The total amount of theft has yet to be ascertained. Ravi Kumar claims he has donated everything to the temple body, even as there were allegations that he accumulated property worth around Rs 100 crore. The cops have handed over a report to the AP high court in a sealed cover.
Tirumala temple
- After the donation, Ravi Kumar and the complainant, Y
Satish Kumar , who was then assistant vigilance and security officer of TTD, reached a compromise and approached the lok adalat in Tirupati, saying they had arrived at a compromise and praying for the theft case to be withdrawn. The lok adalat acquitted Ravi Kumar in Sept 2023. - In Sept 2025, a Tirupati-based journalist filed a writ petition in Andhra Pradesh HC, challenging the closure of the case, and seeking reinvestigation. The HC set aside the lok adalat order and directed a reinvestigation.
- The case was handed over to CID, which examined Ravi Kumar, Satish Kumar and several other witnesses and seized records and
CCTV surveillance footage. As the investigation picked up pace, Satish Kumar was found dead in mysterious circumstances near railway tracks in Anantapur district in Nov 2025. - In Jan 2025, an outsourced bank staffer, Penchalaiah, engaged by TTD, was apprehended when he tried to steal a 100g gold bar. He kept the bar inside a trolley used for shifting trash.
Badrinath & Kedarnath, UttarakhandBelieved to have been revived by Adi Shankaracharya in the 8th century, the Badrinath and Kedarnath (photo, right) temples lie at an altitude of over 10,000ft and 11,000ft respectively in the Garhwal Himalayas.Footfall & revenue | In the current season, Badrinath and Kedarnath have received donations of around Rs 70 crore together, and a combined footfall of around 25 lakh visitors. Annual donations at the two shrines typically range between Rs 50 crore and Rs 80 crore.
Kedarnath Badrinath
Controversy
- On July 3, Sandeep Khatri, founding member of social organisation Bhairav Sena, wrote to the Badri Kedar Temple Committee (BKTC) that Badrinath employee Pramod Nautiyal had been pilfering donations. He urged BKTC to examine CCTV footage and investigate.
- Back in 2023, QR codes for donations were installed outside the two temples, but questions over which accounts received the funds and how the money was utilised were never satisfactorily answered.
- The committee constituted a fourmember internal panel and sought explanations from staff members involved in counting donation at Badrinath. The preliminary probe found substance in the allegations.
- On July 7, Uttarakhand govt suspended Nautiyal and constituted a threemember committee, headed by Garhwal commissioner Anand Swaroop. A criminal case was subsequently registered against Nautiyal at Badrinath PS. Uttarakhand Police has constituted an SIT for a detailed probe and investigators are reviewing 40 days of CCTV footage. The exact amount stolen has not yet been established.
Jagannath Temple, OdishaBuilt in the 12th century by King Anantavarman Chodaganga Deva, it features striking Kalingastyle architecture with a 65-metre spire. One of the char dhams (alongside Badrinath, Dwarka, and Rameswaram), the temple is globally famous for its Ratha Yatra, where the three massive, newly built wooden chariots are pulled by hundreds of thousands of devotees down the 3km stretch to the Gundicha Temple. The temple boasts the world’s largest kitchen, which feeds thousands of devotees daily with sanctified food cooked in earthen pots.Footfall & revenue | The shrine draws nearly one crore devotees annually. Official records show donations of Rs 304.6 crore over the past 13 years and close to 58kg of gold in the last 43 years. In 2024-25 alone, the temple’s hundis collected Rs 18.6 crore in cash and 3.4kg of gold.
Jagannath Temple
Controversies
- The temple witnessed at least seven incidents of thefts — of cash, ornaments, and idols — over the past 25 years.
- On Feb 7, 2024, temple clerk Pradeep Kumar Mohapatra allegedly pocketed Rs 31,940 during donation counting. CCTV footage confirmed the act and he was arrested.
- On July 15, 2023, shrine peon
Susant Kumar Routray was arrested for stealing Rs 800 during counting. On July 27, 2023, unknown people broke open a donation box at night and fled with cash. Two outsiders were arrested. - On Apr 2, 2019, around Rs 5,000 was stolen from the Ram temple, a sub-shrine inside the temple complex, by an outsider.
- On Dec 12, 2016, temple peon
Uma Rath was arrested for concealing Rs 3,000 in his pockets during counting. - On July 29, 2011, silver earrings of Lord Ganesha were stolen from the Bata Ganesh temple; two outsiders, including a diya vendor, were arrested after a few days.
- On Nov 11, 2001, ancient idols of Lord Madan Mohan and Lord Narayan were stolen, sparking outrage. The then Naveen Patnaik government handed the probe over to CBI. Three men were convicted in 2007 and sentenced to nine years in prison.
- Inputs from Jaikrishnan Nair, Kautilya Singh, Debabrata Mohapatra & Sandeep Raghavan