CHENNAI: The renowned Sri Arunachaleswarar temple in Tiruvannamalai, about 190 km from the city, received a whopping Rs 5.06 crore in cash, 160 grams of gold, and 1,540 grams of silver as offerings from devotees, an official said on Thursday.

The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department, which maintains the temple, had recently opened the shrine's offering box (hundi) coinciding with the Tamil month 'Aippasi' and counted the offerings by devotees, reflecting their immense faith in God.

The Arulmigu Arunachaleswarar temple, Arulmigu Dhandayuthapani Swamy temple, Palani, Arulmigu Subramania Swamy temple, Tiruchendur, Arulmigu Mariamman temple, Samayapuram (in Tiruchy), and Arulmigu Subramania Swamy temple, Thiruttani, are among the major temples that frequently receive huge offerings from the devotees.

The hundis are periodically opened in the presence of senior HR&CE officials; the currency notes are counted, and the gold and silver articles are accounted for.

According to sources, the Arulmigu Dhandayuthapani Swamy temple received Rs 2.26 crore in cash, along with 286 grams of gold, 10.752 kg of silver and 393 foreign currency notes, while the Ramanathaswamy temple in Rameswaram received Rs 1.21 crore in cash, 14 grams of gold, 1.405 kg of silver and 191 foreign currency notes during its monthly hundi counting, recently.