Guruvayur: It has been 50 years since monthly counting of offerings in the hundis (donation boxes) at the Guruvayur Temple began in its current format. The practice started in June 1976, when the monthly collection stood at just ₹3.86 lakh. Five decades later, the figure has risen to an impressive ₹8.5 crore.

The latest hundi collection figures, released recently, marked an all-time record and coincided with the temple's golden jubilee year of monthly hundi counting.

In the early years, the hundis were filled largely with coins of 2, 3, 5, 10 and 25 paise denominations. Even today, demonetised ₹2,000, ₹1,000 and old ₹500 notes occasionally turn up in the donation boxes.

The number of hundis has also increased over the years. There are now around 40 donation boxes located inside and outside the temple. If they are not opened every month, they would overflow with notes and coins.

At present, the temple receives an average of ₹5-6 crore per month through hundi collections alone. In addition, devotees contribute through e-hundi facilities provided by various banks. The scanner-based digital donation system has recently been generating nearly ₹6 lakh in offerings.

Hundi opened only once every 3 or 4 months earlier

Half a century ago, the hundis at the temple were opened only once every three or four months, as the collections were relatively modest. Unlike today, when bank personnel assist in counting the offerings, the task was handled entirely by temple staff.

Only currency notes were counted and deposited in the then Malabar Co-operative Central Bank in Kozhikode, while coins were bundled and stored. Employees' salaries were often paid from these coin collections, recalls K.P. Karunakaran, one of the earliest officials to retire from the Guruvayur Temple administration.