Temples seek insurance

Temples have been India's mainstay of culture, tradition and creativity, not to mention its association with wealth. With time, risk has not spared temples either.

With an intention to protect their riches, Indian temples are seeking insurance cover. Keeping in mind the valuable possessions of these cash-rich temples, re-insurance would be required to provide adequate cover to mitigate the risk.

Some of the temples which have sought cover already or contemplating are:

• Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams temple in Andhra Pradesh
• Guruvayoor temple in Kerala
• Sabarimala Ayyappa shrine
• Vaishnodevi temple in Jammu & Kashmir
• Madurai Meenakshi temple

Other interesting complication arising from this is the cover being extended to devotees / pilgrims. For example, when the government recently decided to take out insurance cover for pilgrims to the Kumbh Mela, the religious fair held once in four years, the insurance company was at a loss, as there was no count of people coming to the fair.

Insurers are also developing tailor-made products for religious institutions and events. For example, Haj pilgrims going to Mecca are increasingly buying insurance against loss of currency, apart from personal accident cover.

For more on this, read: Business Standard