2 NRIs offer Rs 14 crore donation to Lord Balaji temple

A donation of Rs 14 crores has been made by two US-based NRI entrepreneurs to the famous hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara in Andhra Pradesh's Tirupati. The TTD official said that devotees requested them to use the funds for different TTD-run public welfare trusts.

Tirupati: Two US-based NRI entrepreneurs have made a donation of Rs 14 crores to the famous hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara at nearby Tirumala in Andhra Pradesh on Friday, a temple official said.

The devotees, who are friends and wished to remain anonymous, made the offering on the auspicious day of Goddess Sri Varalakshmi Vratham festival, the official said.

After offering prayers with their family members at the cash-rich hill shrine, they handed over a demand draft for Rs 14 crore to A V Dharma Reddy, the Special Officer of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), that governs the over 2,000-year-old temple, said the temple official.The devotees requested the temple officials to use the funds for different TTD-run public welfare trusts.

This is the second straight year the two have made a similar offering.

In July last year, they had donated Rs 13.5 crore to the shrine with a request to use it for different TTD trusts, the official added.