Is Donating Jewelry To Lord Venkateshwara Reasonable?

With each passing day, the sanctity of the divine Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanams is getting polluted. The sheer greed for money and the corrupt practices being followed is bringing disgrace to the Telugu people and a common bhakta says “we close our eyes and just go for the sake of seeing the lord, we have lost faith in the TTD system and its staff, it is not about spirituality anymore, it is all about money and corruption”.
 
The final nail on the head has been hit with the shocking revelation that the special jewellery that the great Srikrishna Devaraya got made is now missing and no one knows its whereabouts. While it is a shame to even talk about it, one must ask the question as to how reasonable it is to donate jewellery to the lord.
 
For instance, Gali Janardhan Reddy donated a diamond crown worth Rs 60 crores. Subramaniam, a bank employee says “Gali could have used the same amount to develop the infrastructure of Tirumala or he could have used this huge amount to productive social service schemes which are shown in the TTD website”.
 
However, another employee Ramadevi says “it is gestures like these that get the attention of the world towards Tirumala and gives it more name, that way enough revenue is also generated and there is a special look the Swami gets”.
 
Her version is being countered by a rather devout Rama Sharma, a former TTD official. He said “with dazzling diamonds and expensive ornaments, the devotees are now focusing more on what the Swami is wearing and other materialistic aspects than the divine presence himself.”
 
The more practical IT employee Sridhar Babu says “what is the point in donating jewellery? Anyhow, no one knows where it is going to go or what will happen to it, instead one can look at a voluntary contribution towards any of the TTD development activities and create a better place.”
 
While the thoughts are many, it is about time, we ask our conscience what our approach towards this famous and holy place should be.