When corruption reaches government offices, we call it expected.
When it ruins public services, we call it depressing.
But when it enters the sanctum of a temple — a place where millions come with faith, tears, gratitude, and surrender — it becomes something darker.
Between 2015 and 2025, a decade-long supply chain at one of India’s holiest shrines allegedly replaced pure mulberry silk with cheap polyester and billed ₹350 dupattas at ₹1300 each. The fraud may exceed ₹50 crore.
And for many devotees, this isn’t just another scam.
It feels like a slow, suffocating erosion of trust — the kind that makes you quietly lose interest in everything.
1️⃣ When devotion Becomes a Marketplace, Scams Become Inevitable
tirupati attracts crores of devotees every year. With that comes massive procurement — laddus, flowers, ghee, ornaments, and now, allegedly, silk dupattas.
The problem begins when the sanctity of devotion becomes an opportunity for suppliers to exploit with zero accountability.
2️⃣ The Latest Blow: Fake Silk Dupattas for a Decade
Reports reveal that a vendor supplied polyester dupattas to the temple while billing them as pure mulberry silk.
Cost price: ₹350
Billing price: ₹1300
Multiply this by years of supply and crores of dupattas — and you get a fraud estimated above ₹50 crore.
This isn’t a small leak.
It’s a pipeline of corruption flowing through a sacred institution.
3️⃣ Polyester Masquerading as Silk — A Metaphor for Corruption in Broad Daylight
The devotees receive these dupattas as blessings — prasad.
Gifts from God.
But behind the scenes, what they were actually handed was plastic fabric dressed up as purity.
It’s not just financial fraud.
It’s emotional fraud.
4️⃣ This Comes After the “Fake Ghee” Controversy — A Pattern, Not an Accident
First, it was ghee used in temple offerings, allegedly failing purity tests.
Now dupattas.
The pattern is unmistakable:
Every time a devotee bows their head, someone behind the curtain sees only a business target.
5️⃣ The Hardest Truth: devotion Makes people Vulnerable
people visiting tirupati don’t bargain.
They don’t question.
They don’t suspect.
Faith disarms them — and corrupt systems rely on exactly that.
Scams thrive most where people trust the most.
6️⃣ Ten Years Is Not a Mistake — It’s a System
A fraud lasting a decade cannot happen without:
multiple layers of approval
procurement committees
audits
sign-offs
inspections
If polyester dupattas passed every checkpoint for 10 years, it means the problem isn’t one supplier.
It’s the system that enabled it.
7️⃣ The Emotional Toll: When Even Temples Feel Unsafe
For ordinary people, scams in temples feel personal.
Not because of the money,
but because of what it symbolizes —
If even sacred spaces are compromised, where do you place your trust anymore?
That crushing feeling of disillusionment is what makes many say:
“I'm slowly losing interest in everything.”
It’s not apathy.
It’s heartbreak.
8️⃣ The ₹50 Crore Question: Who Allowed This? Who Benefited? Who Will Be Held Accountable?
Investigations will name suppliers.
Committees will shuffle papers.
There will be reports.
There will be statements.
But the real question remains:
Why didn’t anyone notice for 10 years?
Because noticing is inconvenient when everyone benefits — except the devotee.
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