The Beautiful Tree: Indigenous Indian Education in the Eighteenth Century c8.s1.t15.7

c8.s1.t15.7

The acting Agent and Collector in Beerbhoom in 1823 seems to have considered that the funds of the temple were liable to be applied to the establishment of public institutions, but it does not appear on what grounds this opinion was formed. According to one account the collections of the temple average 30,000 rupees per annum, the amount depending on the number and liberality of the pilgrims. According to an official estimate made in 1822, the resources of the temple were supposed to be 1,50,000 rupees annually. A specific fact stated is that in two months the collections amounted to 15,000 rupees, but it is not said whether the two months were in the season of the year when the temple is most frequented. The present appropriation of the revenue after providing, I conclude, for the current expenses of the temple, is to the support of religious mendicants and devotees.