Yes, this is India.

It is exactly the same as happened around Europe during medieval times - and why Henry viii decided to dismantle the english monasteries ... so look forward to the indian government appropriating some assets to redistribute to the poor (like that redistribution would ever happen)

Crazy facts, but then everything to do with religion...all religions, is crazy.

Religion + capitalism = disaster for humanity.

I read somewhere that if you have food and a roof over your head, you are one of the top 50% richest people in the world. For the "temple" that money could help a lot of starving people.

Actually, it is idiotic for a practical reason. Keeping gold in a bank is like having a million pounds in cash kept in a current account. There is no return on it. Even at only a 2% return, a million dollars if invested in shares would have an annual income of 20,000 dollars. Actual stock market returns, averaged over a long time (50 years) are closer to 9%.
So not only do their faithful leave them gifts of gold, the gold is simply hidden away (and costing money for secure storage) instead of being invested and ploughed back into their community.
Pretty foolish, really.

If all the hypocrisy and contractions in the world had any monetary value, we'd be able to feed, clothe and educate every person in need, for life.

insane