Here's How TTD is Making Money From the Hair People Donate to the God!

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Here's How TTD is Making Money From the Hair People Donate to the God!
If wigmakers and e-traders are to be believed, many foreign film stars have begun donning wigs made of hair tonsured at the Balaji temple in Tirumala. Here's a hair-raising statistic for you. The Lord Venkateshwara temple in Tirumala, Andhra Pradesh - the richest Indian temple in terms of the revenue generated - earns as much as one-tenth of its annual revenue from the sale of hair offered by devotees. 3 copy Every year, thousands of people who visit the temple get tonsured to offer their hair to Lord Venkateshwara, in keeping with a centuries-old tradition. The TTD in joint collaboration with the Material Scrap Trading Corporation (MSTC) has been conducting ‘e-auctioning’ of human hair by inviting global tenders. 4 copy It is estimated that about a crore people tonsure their heads annually at the hill shrine. In peak season, 45,000-50,000 people get their heads tonsured daily at the TTD’s 16 tonsuring halls, two of which stay open round the clock. The temple authorities are auctioning hair in two phases. First in September and then in March. The hair in these auctions is usually sold by multiple tons. A chain of buying continues from the main buyer to various middle men and wholesaler distributors. Now-a-days e-auctioning is taking place and it attracts traders across the world. The temple authorities auction 6 categories of hair depending on length and texture viz.. Rates of hair in the Global auction 2015 1. First variety (31'' and above) - Rs 25,563 per kg 2. Second variety (16''-30'' approx) - Rs 20,026 per kg 3. Third variety (10''-15'' approx) - Rs 6,177 per kg 4. Fourth variety (5''-9'' approx) - Rs 5,184 per kg 5. Fifth variety (Below 5'') - Rs 35 per kg 6. Grey hair - Rs 8,958 per kg 1 copy Annually 260 tons of hair will put for e-auction, with that TTD gained nett revenue of RS 96 crore in 2009-10, Rs 98.7 crore in 2010-11, RS 163.16 crore in 2011-12, Rs 205.63 crore in 2012-13 and RS 239.68 crore in 2013-14. P.S. We have seen heists of different kinds linked to gold, silver, cash and other valuable items. But recently at Simhachalam Temple, the abode of Lord Sri Varahalakshmi Nrusimhaswami where a lot of people tonsure their heads, robbers struck in the night to decamp with 10 bags of first and second grade mix of hair.