Navratri special: 135-yr-old temple decorated with Rs 8 crore currency notes

A 135-year-old temple in Visakhapatnam of Andhra Pradesh has been decorated with currency notes and gold ornaments worth over Rs 8 crore for Navratri.

The temple of Goddess Vasavi Kanyaka Parameswari has special significance during Navratri. The Goddess is decorated with gold ornaments and currency notes of all denominations as part of the Navratri celebrations.

The deity has been decked up with currency notes worth Rs 8 crore and what’s interesting is that it is all public money.

"It's public contribution & will be returned once the puja is over. It won't go to temple trust," said the Temple committee.

Visakhapatnam, Andhra | A 135-yr-old temple of Goddess Vasavi Kanyaka Parameswari decorated with currency notes & gold ornaments worth Rs 8 cr for Navratri

"It's public contribution & will be returned once the puja is over. It won't go to temple trust," says the Temple committee pic.twitter.com/1nWfXQwW7c

— ANI (@ANI) September 30, 2022

Hundreds of volunteers spent sleepless nights to decorate the temple with notes of the denominations of Rs 2,000, Rs 500, Rs 200, Rs 100, Rs 50, and Rs 10. The garlands and bouquets were also made from the currency notes of various denominations and colors.

The currency notes of different colours have added to the beauty of the temple. The unique decoration has attracted thousands of devotees from various places.

A large number of devotees worship the deity during the navratri celebrations.

However, this is not the first instance of a temple getting decorated with currency notes. Kanyaka Parameswari temple in Telangana’s Jogulamba Gadwal district was decorated with currency notes of 1 crore.

In 2017, the temple committee had made the offering in a similar arrangement with the currency notes amounting Rs 3 crore. Similarly, Vishakhapatnam's Kanyaka Parameshwari temple was wrapped up in Rs 4.5 crore cash and gold ornaments in 2018.