Tirupati: Inside the Richest Temple on Earth

Tirupati: Inside the Richest Temple on Earth Every year, roughly 30,000 people a day climb a hill in Andhra Pradesh to stand in front of a single black stone idol. And every year, that same idol is handed something in the neighborhood of 1,600 crore rupees in cash alone — donated by hand, coin by coin, into a giant iron collection box called the hundi. A NOTE ON SOURCES Claims marked in this video as 'devotee belief' are traditions widely held and widely reported, but not established by science. Claims marked 'historians disagree' are points where scholarly sources genuinely conflict. Everything else is drawn from the sources used to research this catalogue. IMAGE CREDITS Images via Wikimedia Commons: • 01.jpg — Dinesh Kumar (DK) from Bangalore, Karnataka, India — CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... • Prime Minister Modi at Tirupati Balaji Temple.jpg — Prime Minister's Office — GODL-India https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... • Tirumala Venkateswara Temple, Tirupati (23710079574).jpg — Dinesh Kumar (DK) from Bangalore, Karnataka, India — CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... • Tirumala Venkateswara Temple, Tirupati (23711454653).jpg — Dinesh Kumar (DK) from Bangalore, Karnataka, India — CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... • National Sanskrit University, Tirupati with Tirumala Hills background.jpg — Avijit Mandal 2000 — CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... • A decoration at Tirumala Tirupati temple.jpg — vijay chennupati from sydney, australia — CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... • Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple in Tirumala in Chittoor district,Andhra Pradesh.jpg — Siddharth Verma 101 — CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... • TIRUMALA TIRUPATI TEMPLE,ANDHRA PRADESH - panoramio.jpg — rajaraman sundaram — CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... • Tirumala hills, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh (2017).jpg — Raghuveer Dathu Makthal — CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... • A View of Tirumala Venkateswara Temple.JPG — Adityamadhav83 — CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... • Sri Venkateswara National Park Tirumala Hills 06.JPG — Adityamadhav83 — CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... • Sri Venkateswara National Park Tirumala Hills 08.JPG — Adityamadhav83 — CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... • Chakra Teertham Tirumala.jpg — రవిచంద్ర — CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... • Tirumala Venkateswara temple entrance 09062015.JPG — Nikhilb239 — CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... • Far sunset^tirumala Andhra pradesh - panoramio.jpg — rajaraman sundaram — CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... • Tirumala mountains^andhra pradesh - panoramio.jpg — rajaraman sundaram — CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... • Windmill tirumala,andhra pradesh - panoramio.jpg — rajaraman sundaram — CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... • Sahaja Shila Thoranam at Tirumala, Andhra pradesh.jpg — K.Venkataramana — CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/publicdom...) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... • Shilathoram at Tirumala, Andhra Pradesh - 2.jpg — K.Venkatarama