AP: Unknown devotee donates 8.4 kg gold to temple

Even as the offering of a diamond-gold crown worth Rs 45 crore to Tirumala temple by the Karnataka minister and industrialist G Janardhan Reddy was continuing to be the subject of discussion, an unknown devotee has made one more big donation to another important temple in Andhra Pradesh.

The devotee has put 8.4 kg of gold in the hundi (offering box) of the Kanakadurga temple of Vijayawada with the request that this be used for the gold-plating of the idols of different gods and goddesses in the Durga temple.

The gold in the form of 84 gold biscuits has been valued at Rs 1.25 crore and authorities said that it was imported from South Africa.

Interestingly, the unidentified devotee also dropped a letter with his valuable offering addressed to "Amma", the reigning deity of the Durga temple, saying the offering was a way of thanksgiving to the Goddess.

"You have given my family health and wealth, a part of which I am donating to you", he wrote. The devotee said that he had earned the wealth through honest and legal means and had even paid income tax on it. He said that he was responding to the appeal of the authorities for donation of gold for gold-plating of the domes of the temple.

Chandrakumar, the executive officer of the temple, told the media that the gold would be used for the purpose ordained by the unknown devotee.

This is first time in the history of the Durga temple that such a huge quantity of gold was donated by a devotee. It came at a time when the lower parts of the temple were also being gold-plated by the authorities.