Bhubaneswar: Against the backdrop of allegations of donation misappropriation at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA), Puri, on Wednesday made public the deity’s bank balance, revealing deposits of around Rs 1,912 crore till now.In a written statement, the govt-run SJTA said the temple’s finances are managed with the highest standards of transparency, supported by systematic accounting practices and regular audits. SJTA’s chief administrator Arabinda Kumar Padhee asserted that robust mechanisms are in place to ensure accountability and public trust.According to the SJTA, the shrine generates revenue from multiple sources, including devotees’ donations and offerings, earnings from temple-owned quarries and mines, interest accrued on fixed deposits, proceeds from land transactions, and govt grants.A designated portion of the income is parked in fixed deposits as a corpus fund, while another share is allocated to a foundation fund. The remaining money is maintained in the temple fund accounts. The temple fund is used to meet the daily expenses of rituals, religious services, and administrative operations of the ancient shrine. Any surplus generated is subsequently converted into fixed deposits to safeguard and strengthen the Lord’s estate.As of Aug 31, SJTA has accumulated bank assets worth nearly Rs 1,912 crore, including around Rs 1,811 crore, 9 lakh and 58 thousand held under the three principal heads of corpus, foundation and temple deposits. The figure also includes the Rs 500 crore corpus contribution made by the state govt in June 2024.“The temple currently maintains around Rs 100 crore, 70 lakh, 66 thousand and 868 in savings, current and flexi accounts. To uphold public confidence and ensure complete transparency, the proceeds collected from the temple hundi are counted every day, and the details are promptly displayed on official notice boards as well as digital platforms accessible to devotees across the world,” Padhee said, adding that since the launch of the digital Hundi ‘Samarpan’ platform by CM Mohan Charan Majhi on July 15 this year, devotees have contributed Rs 56.7 lakh through the online donation system.Although no allegations of temple fund misappropriation have so far surfaced, police sources said the temple has witnessed at least seven incidents of theft involving cash, ornaments and idols in the last 25 years.In one such case, temple clerk Pradeep Kumar Mohapatra was allegedly caught through CCTV surveillance stealing Rs 31,940 cash during donation counting on Feb 7, 2024. Earlier, on July 15, 2023, shrine peon Susant Kumar Routray was arrested for allegedly stealing Rs 800 during the counting process.
