AP temples’ income up owing to ‘growing sins’

Income of temples in Andhra Pradesh has grown by 27 per cent, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said , attributing it to “growing sins and increased troubles’ of people.
“People are committing sins. Some are facing troubles and to get rid of them they are going to temples and praying. If they are facing more troubles and committing more sins, they are coming to temples and offering money. It’s a reality,” the Chief Minister remarked, during his inaugural address at the two-day conference of district Collectors.
“Not just temples, people were visiting churches and mosques for solace. Many people would have gone mad if there are no temples, churches or mosques,” he said. At the same time, he pointed out that the sale of liquor was coming down, resulting in reduced income to the state. “More people are taking (Sabarimala) Ayyapa Swamy ‘deeksha’ and abstaining from liquor consumption for 40 days. To that extent our liquor sales are going down,” he observed, though jocularly.