Eight employed to count coins offered to Pathibhara Temple

By Sahara Limbu,Phungling, Aug. 22:The counting of 36 quintals of coins collected over the past 10 months at the famous religious site of Pathibhara has begun. 

The Pathibhara Area Development Committee staff have started the process of collecting and counting offerings.

During the fiscal year 2024/25, the Pathibhara Temple in Taplejung collected over Rs. 30 million in cash offerings. 

Devotees also offered coins, gold, silver, copper, bells, and other items worth millions of rupees.  

The Pathibhara Area Development Committee collects cash offerings monthly, counts them, and deposits them in the bank.

However, the counting of approximately 36 quintals of coins stored over the past 10 months has begun only now. 

The Pathibhara Temple, situated at an altitude of 3,794 meters, has received coins from Nepali, Indians, and devotees from other countries.

Temple staff collect offerings daily under the supervision of the Nepal Police. 

According to Prajit Hangbang, Executive Director of the Pathibhara Area Development Committee, coins collected over about 10 months have been brought to the office in Phungling for counting and management. 

Rust, colour powders, and other impurities on the coins are cleaned using specialised equipment and dried in the sun. 

The coins are then sorted as per the country, packed, and prepared to be sent to markets and banks. During sunny days, up to 100 kilograms of coins are counted daily. A total of 33 employees have been appointed to work in different branches of the committee, of which eight are dedicated solely to counting offerings. 

Rakki Thewa Limbu, the committee chairperson, informed that since the volume of offerings increases during the season, cash is counted first as a standard practice.

Counting is carried out under the supervision of the Nepal Police and monitored through CCTV. 

The committee currently stores a total of 228 tolas of refined and unrefined gold, 5,298 tolas of silver, 6,539 kilograms of copper, and more than 16,000 bells.

So far, the Pathibhara site has collected offerings exceeding Rs. 115 million According to the committee, a total of Rs.116 million was collected in offerings at Pathibhara up to the previous fiscal year.