The sale of human hair, which the devotees offer to the presiding deity in fulfilment of their prayers at Tirumala, has turned out to be a rich source of income for the Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam ( TTD ) — the sole custodian of the hill temple of Lord Venkateswara.
The TTD earned a staggering Rs. 200 crore selling hair in the 2011-2012 financial year, against Rs. 54 crore earned last year.
Jointly conducted
While the first phase of ‘e'-auctioning of hair last September fetched the TTD a little over Rs. 130 crore, the second phase organised on Thursday (which went on till late into the night) fetched it Rs. 70 crore. The auctions were jointly conducted by the TTD and the Material Scrap Trading Corporation (MSTC) — a public sector unit — by inviting global tenders. While 466 tonnes of hair was sold during the first phase, over 95 tonnes was sold off on Thursday.
Illegitimate
Sources attribute the increase in the income to the decision of the TTD officials to invite tenders. The highest price quoted during the first auction was marked as the upset price during the second phase. This was done not only to safeguard the interests of the institution but also prevent the bidders from entering into illegitimate understandings.
Statistics reveal that after the temple ‘hundi,' which netted Rs. 675 crore last year, it is through the sale of hair that the management earns most of its income, which even surpasses the proceeds received from the sale of darshan tickets, which is roughly around Rs. 160 crore. Given the rate of procurement of over one tonne of human hair every day, the next round of auction is likely to be held only after three months.
