Hyderabad: The govt has decided to re-categorise endowments temples in the state based on their income levels. After the reclassification, it is expected that Secunderabad will have the highest number of A-category temples in the state at 18 followed by Nalgonda with 17 temples.
“The current classification has been in place for two decades. Since then, many temples have emerged and with societal changes, especially post-Covid-19, there has been a big jump in devotees thronging the temples and income levels also going up. There is a need to relook at the categorisation of temples,” said officials.
The temples were classified into three categories A, B and C and the old classification has been in place since 2003. With these changes, 10 more temples are expected to be upgraded to category A.
According to the existing categorisation, temples with an annual income above Rs 25 lakh fall under category A, while those earning between Rs 2 lakh and Rs 25 lakh are classified as category B. Temples earning below Rs 2 lakh annually are placed in category C.
Additionally, there is a category D for temples under mutts’ control. Based on previous estimates, 135 temples are classified as category A, 301 in category B and 303 as category C temples. Category D has around 25 temples.
Sources said that this data and classification method have not been updated for more than two decades. As a result, many temples are missing out on necessary development activities and employee promotions are on hold due to lack of updated income estimates.
After the reclassification, it is anticipated that Yellamma temple in Hyderabad, Peddamma temple, Keesaragutta temple, and Bhadradri temple will be included in category A.
Notably, Mahabubnagar has 15 category A temples, Warangal has 14 and Rangareddy and Medak each have 13 category A temples.
