New Delhi, July 4 : The Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi has witnessed a record rise in donations as well as pilgrim footfall in the past few months.

According to official figures, the first half of 2024 has seen an unprecedented rise in temple earnings as compared to the same period last year.

As the numbers suggest, the income (from offerings and donations) of Kashi Vishwanath Dham increased by 24.66 per cent while the number of devotees rose by 45.76 per cent in the first half of 2024, as compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.

Notably, the new corridor of the Kashi Dham was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December 2021, which not only eased the movement of pilgrims from ghats to the temple, but also made it more accessible for global pilgrims.

The expansion and modernisation of the temple complex have resulted in numerous facilities and abundant space for the devotees for Lord Shiva's darshan.

According to Vishwa Bhushan Mishra, Chief Executive Officer of Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust, over 2 crore devotees visited Baba Vishwanath in 2023 (January to June), which rose to about 3.34 crore in 2024 (first half of the year).

Similarly, the Dham's earnings which stood at 38.29 crore in 2023 jumped to 47.74 crore in 2024 (January to June).

Below is the break-up of visitors to Kashi Vishwanath Dham and the income during the first six months of 2023:

January:

Income: Rs 4,71,90846.00

Visitors: 42,29,590

February:

Income: Rs 5,13,06121.00

Visitors: 40,04807

March:

Income: Rs 9,78,25698.00

Visitors: 37,11,060

April:

Income: Rs 6,96,24352.00

Visitors: 42,31,858

May:

Income: Rs 6,04,84125.00

Visitors: 31,55,476

June:

Income: Rs 5,65,46072,00

Visitors: 36,46,346

Below is the break-up for 2024:

January:

Income: Rs 5,29,13036.00

Visitors: 46,50,272

February:

Income: Rs 6,90,54449.00

Visitors: 32,67,772

March:

Income: Rs 11,15,12236.00

Visitors: 95,63,432

April:

Income: Rs 6,96,74352.00

Visitors: 49,88,040

May:

Income: Rs 8,02,76968.00

Visitors: 61,87,954

June:

Income: Rs 9,39,82849.00

Visitors: 48,37,463

/IANS