AHMEDABAD: As the second Covid wave ebbs in the state, people are showing their gratitude to the gods for having survived the deadly situation by filling the donation boxes at famous temples in Gujarat.
As lockdown restrictions relax, devotees are flocking to temples. Donations that had dried up when coronavirus struck the state are once again at pre-Covid levels at Somnath temple in Veraval, Dwarkadhish temple in Dwarka town, Ambaji temple in Banaskantha and Ranchhodrai temple in Dakor.
Interestingly, the Ambaji temple has seen such a huge surge over the past two months that donations have surpassed pre-Covid levels. "Average donations have reached Rs 40 lakh per week as compared to Rs 30 lakh in pre-Covid times," said Savjibhai Prajapati, account officer of Shri Arasuri Ambaji Mata Devasthan Trust. "The average monthly donation has gone up to Rs 2 crore. This includes online donations as well. Before Covid struck, this figure was around Rs 1.5 crore," said Prajapati. Footfalls at the temple are rising to almost pre-Covid levels, too.
S J Chavda, administrator of SAAMDT, said that daily footfalls have reached 12,000 with 30,000-35,000 devotees visiting the temple on weekends.
The donations received from devotees at the four famous temples had shown a total average drop of about 37% for 2020-21 compared to the previous year. While the drop was between 20% and 55% for these temples on a standalone basis, the total collection had dropped from Rs 119.35 crore in 2019-2020 to Rs 74.91 crore in 2020-21. However, things are looking up.
Along with a rise in donations, Dakor temple -- where a huge mela is held every year on Janmashtami -- is expecting a rush of visitors this year. About 1.75 lakh devotees visited the temple in 2019 during the festival period. "The donations received by the temple in July 2019 was about Rs 1 crore. We expect a similar contribution this July," said Ravindra Upadhyay, general manager of Dakor temple trust.
Average monthly donations pick up in temples
The average monthly donation at Somnath Temple has also picked up in the last couple of months and touched Rs 2.5 crore. Before lockdown, it was about Rs 5 crore a month. Lockdown forced by the pandemic saw Somnath witness a massive drop in donations from Rs 44 crore in 2019-2020 to Rs 20.24 crore in 2020-21.
“Now, there has been an increase in daily footfalls. We are getting about 7,000-8,000 devotees daily. We expect it to reach 12,000 per day as was the case before Covid. The weekend footfalls are about 15,000 but we are hopeful that with the onset of the holy month of Shravan in next few days, the numbers will increase,” said Vijaysinh Chavda, general manager, Somnath Temple Trust.
Before the pandemic struck, the famous Dwarkadhish temple in Devbhumi Dwarka district witnessed more than 2 lakh people visit the holy shrine on Janmashtami.
“In June, the temple received about Rs 6.7 lakh in donations while it has so far received Rs 6.23 lakh of contributions from devotees in July. Footfalls per day are on the rise. Presently, about 7,000-8,000 devotees visit the temple daily on weekdays. On weekends, about 10,000 to 15,000 devotees visit the place,” said sources in the temple trust.
