Devotees still send offerings to Tirumala by money orders

Tirupati: Even as digital payments dominate temple donations, a section of devotees continues to send offerings to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) through traditional money orders, reflecting enduring faith in conventional forms of worship. This practice remains active under the Aseervachanam scheme, through which devotees receive physical tokens of blessings from Lord Venkateswara.

Under the scheme, devotees who remit donations via money orders receive a printed acknowledgement card along with akshintalu through the postal department. For many pilgrims, this tangible response carries deep spiritual significance, reinforcing their connection with the deity despite the distance.

More than one lakh devotees across the country donate through money orders every year, contributing over Rs 3 crore annually. This stream of offerings continues alongside massive in-person and digital donations. In 2025 alone, over 2.6 crore pilgrims visited the Tirumala temple, with physical donations during darshan crossing Rs 1,380 crore. TTD also receives donations worth several crores through online platforms.

To address frequent delays in processing money orders involving banks and postal services, TTD partnered with the postal department in 2009. The collaboration led to the launch of the Aseervachanam scheme with a dedicated software system, enabling the postal department to directly handle the dispatch of acknowledgement letters to devotees.

As part of the arrangement, TTD supplies pre-printed acknowledgement cards, envelopes featuring images of Srivaru and Ammavaru, and packets of akshintalu.

Postal staff personalise the cards with donor details, enclose all materials, and deliver them to devotees. TTD pays a nominal service fee in addition to standard postal charges.

Data since 2009 shows that while the number of donors using money orders has gradually declined, the scheme continues to attract steady participation. In 2009, only 3,614 devotees sent donations through money orders. The number surged to 2.53 lakh in 2010, contributing Rs 2.75 crore. Collections peaked in 2016 at Rs 3.65 crore. In 2023, 1,35,243 devotees donated Rs 3.30 crore, followed by Rs 3.19 crore from 1,35,637 donors in 2024. In 2025, 1,26,958 devotees have contributed Rs 3.13 crore through money orders.

Senior postal superintendent of Tirupati division, Major Sayeda Tanveer, said that on average, about 500 e-money orders are delivered daily to TTD under the scheme, providing a meaningful service to devotees while generating steady revenue for the postal department.

Since the inception of the scheme in 2009, a total of 31.68 lakh devotees have sent 49.19 cr to TTD under the scheme.

TTD executive officer Anil Kumar Singhal said many donors using money orders are those who cannot afford to travel to Tirupati but still wish to fulfil their vows. He noted that devotees from remote parts of India regularly send small amounts, sometimes as little as Rs 10, purely out of devotion.