Coins, mostly of ₹5 and ₹10 denominations, which were deposited by devotees as offerings through the years, were collected from the 25-foot-deep well of the Jalakandeswarar Temple in Vellore town.
Visitors to the temple have been depositing coins in the well built in March 1981. With most of the coins getting stuck in slush or on the gap between the bricks on the wall of the well, the temple authorities installed a nylon mesh net at a depth of 10 feet in the well a few years ago to secure the coins.
The coins were left intact for years until the temple authorities, recently, decided to recover them to retain the full depth of the temple well to prevent inundation or instances of flooding during the northeast monsoon. Water was pumped out from the well.
Coins of various denominations were collected from the well in pots.
The Jalakandeswarar temple lies within the 16th-century granite fort complex in Vellore town. The fort complex, which is encompassed of three Protected Monuments, including a mosque and 58 colonial buildings, registers a footfall of 1,000 visitors and devotees on a daily average.
The fort complex was brought under the control of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in 1926. The temple well was dug in March 1981 after the ASI allowed residents to enter the fort complex, including the temple, for the first time.
“Despite opening the temple for worship, there was no source of water. So, we decided to dig the well,” said 71-year-old S. Suresh, Secretary, Jalakandeswarar Temple Foundation.
