Temples in India hold far more than spiritual value. Over centuries they’ve become custodians of art, social welfare, land, and astonishing wealth, from everyday hundi cash to crown-jewels locked in ancient vaults.
This is a human story as much as a financial one: millions give not because a ledger asks, but because devotion, gratitude, and vows drive offerings.
Below are the top 10 richest temples in India in 2025, why they’re wealthy, how that wealth is managed, and surprising, lesser-known facts that show how religion, history and economics braid together.
The pattern behind temple riches, more than just gold
Before the list, a crucial observation: temple wealth isn’t one-dimensional. Income comes from hundi (cash offerings), gold and jewellery offerings, sale of prasadam and services, land and property, interest from fixed deposits, and for some shrines priceless historic artifacts.
Temples also reinvest funds into pilgrim infrastructure, education, hospitals and community kitchens; in many cases, their social work is as visible as their vaults.
This means “richest” can mean largest annual cash flow (Tirupati), the highest known treasure valuation (Padmanabhaswamy), or massive land and deposit holdings (Guruvayur). Each temple’s story of wealth is unique.
1. Tirumala Tirupati Venkateswara Temple (Andhra Pradesh)
If devotion could be measured in numbers, Tirupati would be a supernova.
High in the Tirumala hills, millions of pilgrims queue for a few precious seconds before Lord Venkateswara’s idol, their prayers whispered, their offerings made. Some bring cash, some gold, others shave their heads in humility, giving their hair as an offering.
In 2024 alone, the temple received ₹1,365 crore in hundi collections. Its total budget for 2024–25 crossed ₹5,142 crore, making it one of the wealthiest religious institutions in the world.
Fixed deposits? Over ₹13,287 crore. Gold reserves? More than 11 metric tonnes worth ₹8,496 crore.
The temple’s economy flows from millions of pilgrims annually, paid sevas, sale of laddus and other prasadam, accommodation services, and systematic investment of donations.
But here’s the beauty: much of this wealth flows back into the people, free meals (annadanam) for thousands daily, hospitals, schools, and constant improvements to handle the enormous footfall.
What’s striking is how temple operations have industrialized, queue management, online bookings, and professional trust governance turn devotion into sustainable revenue streams.
Some devotees sponsor entire free meal days in memory of a loved one, quietly feeding thousands without ever stepping into the limelight.
Lesser-known devotion story
Many devotees promise unusual vows, from donating hair (tonsuring) to funding entire village welfare programs and those small acts compound into the temple’s steady income.
2. Padmanabhaswamy Temple (Kerala)
In the heart of Thiruvananthapuram stands a temple whose wealth is the stuff of legends and court cases.
Padmanabhaswamy Temple made global headlines when its sealed vaults were opened in the 2010’s, revealing a treasure that could make even the richest monarchs blush gold coins, diamond-studded ornaments, antique jewellery, and ceremonial items. Today, its estimated worth is over ₹1.2 lakh crore.
What’s special is that most of this wealth isn’t liquid cash; it’s priceless heritage.
Even today, the temple’s known treasures remain extraordinary, making it less about annual takings and more about historic accumulated wealth whose conservation and legal oversight raise complex questions about ownership, preservation and public interest.
Conservators and temple trustees wrestle with how to protect it, as some items are centuries old and culturally irreplaceable.
Lesser-known devotion story
Many items in the vault were not meant to be displayed or spent, they were gifts to the deity, to be “used” spiritually, never materially.
3. Guruvayur Temple (Kerala)
If Kerala is God’s Own Country, Guruvayur is one of its brightest jewels.
This beloved Krishna temple holds ₹1,737 crore in bank deposits and over 271 acres of land.
Guruvayur’s Sree Krishna temple shines for its bank deposits and real-estate holdings: RTI disclosures put its bank balances in the thousands of crores and landholdings at hundreds of acres.
But what makes Guruvayur special isn’t just its wealth, it’s how the temple’s economy touches every corner of the town.
The temple supports large-scale annadanam (mass feeding), elephant care (the temple has a famed elephant sanctuary), classical arts patronage, traditional arts like Krishnanattam and a local economy of artisans and craftspeople who serve pilgrims.
This means its wealth circulates through the community as much as it sits in accounts.
Lesser-known devotion story
Families often book “chuttuvilakku”, lighting the lamps around the sanctum, for personal milestones, a tradition that has quietly funded the temple for generations.
4. Vaishno Devi Shrine (Jammu)
High in the Trikuta Mountains, pilgrims climb or ride for hours to reach Mata Vaishno Devi’s cave. The journey is a test of faith, but when the goddess calls, devotees come.
Between 2000–2020, the shrine received 1,800 kg of gold, 4,700 kg of silver, and over ₹2,000 crore in cash donations. The Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board has transformed this into better infrastructure, helicopter services, clean lodges, security, and medical care.
The Vaishno Devi shrine is wealthy because it concentrates intense devotion into a narrow pilgrimage season and channels it effectively.
Lesser-known devotion story
Many devotees who cannot do the trek personally sponsor others to carry offerings or arrange “seva” teams, a gift of pilgrimage, a form of community micro-philanthropy linked to the temple.
5. Shirdi Sai Baba Temple (Maharashtra)
Shirdi’s story is proof that modern saints can inspire ancient-scale devotion.
What was once a small samadhi is now a complex that welcomes around 25,000 devotees a day. Annual donations exceed ₹400 crore, funding hospitals, schools, and water projects.
Regular daily footfall, generous donations from urban and rural devotees, and trust-run social programs make it a perennial top earner. Its outreach and charitable trusts are a major part of how its wealth is put to social use.
A large proportion of Shirdi’s funds are earmarked for community healthcare, a pattern that reflects the saint’s own emphasis on service.
Lesser-known devotion story
Many visitors drop sealed letters into the hundi, petitions to Baba that mix personal wishes with prayers for others’ well-being.
6. Harmandir Sahib / Golden Temple (Punjab)
Step into Amritsar’s Harmandir Sahib and the first thing you’ll notice is the reflection of gold on the sacred pool. The second? The smell of fresh roti.
The Golden Temple’s wealth, over ₹500 crore annually, flows from donations by Sikhs worldwide. But here, wealth is instantly visible in the form of langar, the free community kitchen that runs 24/7, feeding tens of thousands daily.
The trust’s funding model blends local offerings with international philanthropy, and its wealth is visibly channelled into community kitchens, hospitals, and educational projects.
While the Golden Temple is famed for its scale of langar, small gurdwaras across the world mirror the same model — making Sikh philanthropy unusually distributed and resilient.
Lesser-known devotion story
Many donors prefer to send wheat, sugar, or ghee rather than money, gifts that keep the langar’s giant pots boiling.
7. Sabarimala Temple (Kerala)
Unlike temples that welcome visitors year-round, Sabarimala is a seasonal powerhouse.
During its main pilgrimage season, millions of Ayyappa devotees arrive after observing strict vows for 41 days. The temple generates around ₹245 crore in revenue annually, mostly from offerings, sevas, and gold donations.
Devotees observing strict vows undertake the pilgrimage in millions during the mandala-makara season; their offerings, the funds raised through regulated collection and modern digital channels, and support from local trust structures generate large annual revenues.
Groups of friends or families often undertake the vratham (vow) together, turning the pilgrimage into a shared act of spiritual and financial commitment.
This is an example of how ritual timing concentrates devotion into financial peaks.
Lesser-known devotion story
The “paying it forward” culture at Sabarimala, experienced pilgrims funding newcomer, helps sustain both pilgrim numbers and the temple economy.
8. Jagannath Temple (Odisha)
The smell of chhena poda, the sound of conch shells, and the sight of the towering Rath Yatra chariots, Jagannath Temple is a feast for the senses.
Puri’s Jagannath Temple is centuries old, with land grants, ritual endowments and the yearly Rath Yatra that draws global attention.
With a net worth of around ₹150 crore, the temple thrives on donations and the enormous influx of pilgrims during Rath Yatra. Its land holdings and jewellery add to its assets.
While not the absolute largest in liquid assets, its cultural centrality and festival-driven donations keep it among the wealthiest and most influential temples in eastern India.
Many of the temple’s rituals are linked to age-old guilds and artisan families whose livelihoods and heritage are part of the temple’s economic fabric.
Lesser-known devotion story
The temple’s kitchen is the largest in the world, cooking over 56 different dishes daily, all offered to the deity before being served to devotees.
9. Siddhivinayak Temple (Maharashtra)
Nestled in Mumbai, Siddhivinayak has the energy of the city itself, fast-paced, prosperous, and always busy.
Siddhivinayak is an urban phenomenon. Situated in India’s financial capital, it attracts high-value donors; celebrities, politicians, and corporate patrons, and channels offerings into charity, girl-child education schemes and healthcare.
The temple reported record revenues crossing ₹130 crore in FY 2024–25, highlighting how metropolitan access and visibility translate into sizeable regular income.
Siddhivinayak periodically auctions off gold and silver offerings (in ritual cycles), converting in-kind donations into funds that support social programs.
Lesser-known devotion story
Many Mumbaikars start new jobs, businesses, or even film shoots by visiting Siddhivinayak for blessings, a tradition that turns ambition into offerings.
10. Somnath Temple (Gujarat)
On the shores of the Arabian Sea stands Somnath, a temple destroyed and rebuilt multiple times, each time more magnificent.
The modern Somnath shrine, rebuilt and managed with an eye toward heritage tourism, draws pilgrims and tourists alike.
While its annual revenue is smaller compared to the giants above, state and private initiatives around conservation and festivals augment its financial strength, making it an important cultural-economy node on India’s western coast.
Its annual revenue is around ₹33 crore. It is boosted by its appeal as both a spiritual and historical landmark.
Somnath’s revival in the 20th century deliberately fused national heritage with religious revival, creating a different path to accumulating resources.
Lesser-known devotion story
During certain moonlit nights, the temple’s positioning allows devotees to see the moonrise directly over the sanctum. It is a sight worth more than gold.
How these temples turn faith into fortune and back again
- Hundi offerings: Whether it’s a single rupee or a diamond necklace, every gift matters.
- Gold monetisation & deposits: Many temples invest in fixed deposits and gold schemes, and corporate-style budgeting for pilgrim services, generating interest without touching the core donation. Sometimes this gold is melted and auctioned too. Many trusts now publish budgets and run welfare programs. However, the discovery of vaults (Padmanabhaswamy) and very large deposits (Guruvayur) have also raised public debates about transparency, legal control and cultural stewardship.
- Property & land holdings: Some own prime land leased for income.
- Prasadam sales & sevas: From Tirupati laddus to Guruvayur’s payasam, devotional food is also a revenue stream.
- Festivals: Major events like Rath Yatra or Brahmotsavam see income spikes.
Academic studies and policy reports are increasingly calling for standardized audits and clearer rules for how temple wealth can be used for public good while respecting religious autonomy
Faith’s return on investment
While it’s easy to focus on the numbers, the true value of this wealth is in what it funds:
- Free meals for millions.
- Schools and scholarships.
- Hospitals and medical aid.
- Cultural preservation- music, dance, architecture.
The cycle is beautiful: devotees give in gratitude, the temple serves in return, and faith grows stronger.
Final reflections
From the vast gold reserves of Padmanabhaswamy to the bustling hundis of Tirupati, India’s richest temples show that wealth, when held with devotion, becomes more than currency, it becomes a river of service.
As you walk barefoot on the cool marble of the Golden Temple or stand in line at Tirumala before dawn, remember: the coin you hold may seem small, but it’s part of a centuries-old story of giving that has built schools, fed strangers, healed the sick, and kept faith alive.
