Ujjain: With the opening of newly constructed Mahakal Lok (corridor) at Mahakal temple in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, the footfall of devotees has quadrupled, according to the temple management committee. It also said that the revenue through the sale of Prasad as well as donations has doubled.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Ujjain Mahakal Lok temple corridor on October 11, 2022. Mahakal temple is one of the 12 Jyotirlinga sites in the Country. The significance of this site is the Jyotirlinga's direction. Here, it faces south unlike others which face east.
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In 2022, the income of Mahakal temple — from various sources — doubled compared to previous year that was in 2021. A sum of Rs 22.13 crores came in the form of donations in 2021. Whereas in 2022, the donations increased to more than double. It was Rs 46.51 crores.
Between December, 2022 to January, 2023, the temple received its highest income of Rs 78.66 lakhs from donations collected on January 7, 8 and 9. Similarly, during December 31 to January 2023, a sum of more than Rs 4.60 crores was recorded as income through the sale of Laddoo. In 2022, the net donations touched Rs 46.51 crores.
Devotees visiting the temple to pay obeisance to Lord Shiva has grown exponentially. Once the corridor was opened, the temple's footfall began rising gradually and it was ranging between 60,000 to 70,000 during weekends in October and November 2022. Now, the rush of devotees to the Mahakal temple is seeing a whopping rise ranging from 1.5 lakh and 2.5 lakh on weekends.
Sandeep Soni, administrator of the temple said, "After the inauguration of the temple corridor by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the footfall of devotees has gone up manifold. Before the temple corridor was launched, about 12000 to 15000 devotees were visiting the temple during weekends. Now, the number of visitors range between 1.5 lakh to 2.5 lakh. Previously, the sale of Laddoos was 25 to 30 quintals per day. Now, 60 to 70 quintals of Laddoos are sold everyday. A huge footfall of devotees at Mahakal temple has led to the increase in revenue through sale of Prasad as well as donations."
