Highlights:
• For the past 18 years, Ashwathamma has been begging near temples
• She has donated money to temples, orphanages, & charities
• She recently contributed Rs 1 lakh to a temple
According to temple officials, an 80-year-old woman who has been collecting alms at temple entrances throughout the Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts of Karnataka has donated Rs 1 lakh to the Rajarajeshwari temple.
Overview
After the death of her husband 18 years ago, Ashwathamma, who lives in Kanchagodu hamlet near Gangolli in Kundapur taluk of Udupi district, has been begging near several temples.
More than one lakh devotees have received “annadana” from her. After her husband died 18 years ago, Ashwathamma was forced to beg. She spends only a small portion of her earnings on herself and puts the rest in a bank account to be donated.
This isn’t the first time she’s been generous; in fact, she’s been doing so for nearly two decades. Ashwathamma began begging near the Anjaneya Temple in Saaligrama, Udupi district, after her husband, who owned a drama company, died about 20 years ago. She had no other sources of income. She resolved to ‘give it back to the deity’ when her profits increased.
Her only wish is that no one goes hungry
She has donated tens of lakhs to temples around the country, including the Sri Aiyappa Temple at Sabarimala, as well as temples in Polali, Saaligrama, and elsewhere. She begs at Saaligrama temple most of the time and visits other temples on special occasions such as jatras.
P Jayamma, executive officer at Shri Kshethra Rajarajeshwari Temple, Polali, told TOI that she did not utilize the money she got through begging to build fortune but as a humanitarian gesture. Ashwathamma stated that she was repaying the money given to her by society. “My only wish is that no one goes hungry,” she stated.
