Lesson in humanity: woman donated Rs 2.5 lakh to the temple where she begged
India has more than 4 lakh beggars seeking alms. With 81,000 beggars, West Bengal tops the list. Genderwise, 2.2 lakh males and 1.91 lakh females are among the 4,13,670 beggars in the country. The list continues with Uttar Pradesh at 65,835, Andhra Pradesh at 30,218, Bihar at 29,723, and Madhya Pradesh at 28,695.
MV Sitamahalakshmi (85) who has been begging near the Prasanna Anjaneya Swamy Temple, Vontikoppal, Mysuru, for almost 10 years now, donated Rs 2,50,000 to the temple for giving her shelter and taking care of her during her time there. During Ganesh Chaturdhi, she gave a sum of Rs 30,000 to the temple trust and donated the rest of the amount recently.
When Sitamahalakshmi was around 75 years old, her body could not be support her and she had to stop working as a domestic help. Though she has a brother and a sister-in-law in Yadavagiri near Mysuru, she decided not to be dependent on anyone and instead begged near the temple premises, where she has been supported by the authorities of the temple trust. Hearing about her donation, devotees have started to come and greet her and seek blessing.
Sitamahalakshmi told Times of India,
"I would deposit whatever devotees gave me in the bank. For me, god is everything. Hence, I decided to donate money to the temple which takes care of me so well. Once a week, Rajeshwari, who works in the temple helps me take a bath. If I keep money, people will steal it and that's why I decided to donate my savings to the temple. My only wish is that the temple authorities provide prasadam (holy offering) to devotees during every Hanuman Jayanthi."
M Basavaraj, the temple's Trust Chairman in an interview with India Samvad said,
"She is different and never demands devotees give her money; she just accepts what they give. She is generous when comes to contributing to the temple."
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