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interesting characteristic of the temple is the
connection with hair. Many devotees have their
head tonsured as mokku, an offering to God
followind the example of the gandharva princess
Neela Devi. The daily amount of hair collected
is over a ton. The hair thus gathered is sold by
the temple organisation a few times a year by
public auction to international buyers for use as
hair extensions and in cosmetics, bringing over
$6 million to the temple's treasury. Most of the
income goes for the maintenance of the temple
which provides free accomodation, food and
medical care to all the piligrims.
Compiled by Nikolay Yankov
on materials from Internet