Coming Soon: A Demat Account for Direct Transactions with God

Mahakal temple in Madhya Pradesh's Ujjain has come up with a novel concept to woo businessmen who repose too much faith in the Almighty.

The only temple of Lord Shiva among the 12 Jyotirlingas will soon have a demat account, in the name of God.

This will enable devotees to make deities as partners in their business and share the profit with the temple accordingly.

Interestingly, two other temples, 15th Century Khajrana Temple of Lord Ganesha and Ranjit Hanuman Temple of Madhya Pradesh are also on the list.

"This government scheme is good for us as we get donation through cheque or cash but now the profits of share would directly be transferred to the temple's demat account," Rupesh Vyas, a priest at the Ujjain temple said.

This scheme being made available at state-administered temples to enable devotees who are short on cash to make offerings in the form of bonds and shares.

Yashodhar Raje Scindia, Religious Endowment Minister, MP said that the government wants to be very open to accepting any kind of instrument or money that a person plans to offer.

"A person may not be having cash right now but he may have a particular kind of bond that he may want to offer to his God", Scindia added.

NRI devotees too can go to God's demat account and make an offering or make God their overseas business partner.

This is not the first time that a temple has opened a demat account.

Around 50 trusts in charge of such places of worship have opened demat accounts.

Famous Temples that have Demat accounts:

Tirupati Balaji is the first temple to open a demat account in India in August 2015.

Vaishno Devi Temple

Swaminarayan Hindu Temple

Shrinathji Temple in Rajasthan's

Iskon Charities: Operated Gokulam Properties

So does temple management turning to stock markets convert "faith "into a commercial venture?

Indore DM P Narahari feels this is one of the best ways for ensuring security while donating towards development activities of the temple.

"Now whoever wants to donate money or securities, or gold, it enables easy transactions into the accounts of these temples. Devotees ultimately want that whatever they donate, there should be enough transparency", he added.