From faith to fortune: After billion-dollar windfall, devotee pledges 121 kg gold to Lord Venkateswara

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday announced that a devotee of Lord Venkateswara Swamy has pledged a donation of 121kg of gold - valued at approximately Rs 140 crore - to the deity at Tirumala. Addressing the 'poverty elimination' programme P4 in Mangalagiri, Naidu recounted, "That devotee decided to give back to the deity. Now he is giving 121 kg gold to Venkateswara Swamy."

The chief minister explained that the anonymous devotee, inspired by his faith, turned to Lord Venkateswara while setting up a new company. After successfully selling 60% of his shares in the venture and earning around $1.5 billion (between Rs 6,000 and Rs 7,000 crore), the devotee decided to share his fortune as a gesture of gratitude. "Sri Venkateswara Swamy gave him those riches," Naidu said, describing the motivation behind the offering.

Naidu further noted that Lord Venkateswara's idol at the temple is adorned with about 120kg of gold ornaments every day and, "On coming to know about this, the devotee came forward to donate 121 kg of gold."

This announcement comes amid a series of remarkable donations at the Tirumala temple over the past year. In May this year, Sanjiv Goenka donated diamond-studded gold ornaments worth Rs 3.63 crore, and in July, Sudarshan Enterprises from Chennai gifted a golden conch and disc weighing 2.5kg and valued at Rs 2.4 crore. 

Additionally, retired IRS officer YVSS Bhaskar Rao left assets worth Rs 3.66 crore to the temple trust earlier this year.