An elderly woman beggar has donated her entire savings worth Rs 1 lakh for the repair and renovation of the Shree Jagannath temple in her area in Kandhamal district of Odisha.

She had saved the amount over a period of 10 years.

Tula, who is aged about 70, used to beg in front of the Shree Jagannath Temple in Kandhamal town, to sustain herself. A native of Cuttack, Tula was forced to beg after the death of her husband Prafulla Behera who hails from Kandhamal. Both used to work as labourers in Cuttack for their livelihood.

However, Prafulla developed some serious health complications and later both of them returned to Kandhamal town. Tula started working as a domestic help and continued to support the family. They had no issue. She took to begging after her husband passed away sometime later.

Management committee member of Shree Jagannath Temple, Kandhamal, Rajat Mohanty told The Telegraph: “After Prafulla passed away 20 years ago, Tula stopped going to work and started begging. She used to sit in front of the Jagannath temple but also sought alms from people visiting other temples nearby.”

Mohanty said: “One day Tula told me that she wanted to donate money for the repair of the temple. I used to tell her it would require at least Rs 1.5 lakh. When she told me that she would donate Rs 1 lakh, I was dumbfounded. I thought she had gone mad. But she insisted on donating money and asked me to contact the priest of the temple.”

Priest of the temple, Shankar Padhi, told The Telegraph: “Over the years, Tula had developed trust and confidence in me. Nearly eight years back, she had asked me to keep her money. Later I opened an account in her name at the local post office. Every day she used to give some money, be it Rs 10 or Rs 100. At the end of the month, I take her to the post office and deposit whatever earnings she has with me. About a month back, I informed her that her savings amount crossed Rs 1 lakh. Then she insisted that her money be taken away from the post office and be utilised for the repair work of the old Jagannath temple and rooms located inside the new Jagannath temple campus. She also argued that the monks visiting the temple could stay there.”

Padhi then contacted the temple management committee members.

On Thursday, Tula withdrew her money from the post office. As a mark of honour for the pious lady, the management committee has decided to accept her money in presence of all.