Nellore: The sale of human hair offered by devotees has become a rich source of income for Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams which manages the Lord Venkateswara temple at Tirumala.
The revenue from the auction of hair contributes to almost 1/10th of TTD’s income.
The auction of hair fetched Rs 200 crore out of the total revenue of Rs 1,949 in 2012-13. There is demand for Tirumala hair in Mumbai, especially for making wigs for film stars. TTD authorities opted for e-auctio since 2011 after realising the demand for hair across the world. TTD officials are now exporting hair to Europe, US and China. Europe and US prefer long and uniformly trimmed hair while China is after broken and short hair to make wigs and market the same in African and American markets apart from Nigeria.
On an average, 10,000 devotees offer 900 kg hair per day at the tonsure centre in Tirumala.
The Simhachalam temple is also selling hair offered by devotees to make money. Last year, it earned around Rs 7 crpre and this year the temple wanted to go for e-auction. One tonne of human hair costs Rs 50 lakh in the international market, though the price varies according to length, density, volume and quality.
Hair that is over 18 to 30 inches-long sometimes costs $300-$450 per kg.
A kg of hair is bought in the domestic market for an amount ranging from Rs 50 to Rs50,000 depending on the quality of the hair.
