The Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB) has launched a review of its donation management system after it was found that nearly Rs 500 crore worth of silver offerings made by devotees over years were either unaccounted for or found to contain very little actual silver.
Such a process has started legal proceedings and raised questions about transparency, accountability and the way offerings at one of the country's most venerated institutions are handled. It has also raised questions of whether devotees bought silver (not necessarily in a good way) before giving and whether there were problems with the donations after they got to the shrine.
Silver Offerings Under Scrutiny
According to reports, the Shrine Board recently sent around 20 tonnes of accumulated silver offerings collected over a period of five to six years to a government-approved mint outside Jammu and Kashmir for testing, melting and refining.
The move was part of the Board’s routine process of converting donated silver into refined metal that can either be monetised or used for official purposes.
But laboratory tests seemingly revealed a shocking result.
Only 5 to 6 percent of the processed material was genuine silver, and the rest was mainly cadmium, iron and other low-value metals, officials said.
Had the entire consignment been pure silver, its estimated market value would have been around Rs 550 crore. The actual recoverable value turned out to be only a small fraction of that amount.
One report concluded that nearly 70 kilograms of donated material yielded only 3 kilograms of pure silver, highlighting the scale of the discrepancy.
Traditional Offerings by Devotees
Every year, millions of pilgrims visiting the Vaishno Devi shrine in the Trikuta Hills near Katra offer silver items as part of their religious faith.
These include silver chhatars (canopies), coins, ornaments and other decorative items.
After collection, the donated items are stored in very secure conditions and periodically moved to government-approved refining facilities.
The recovered silver is then accounted for according to the Shrine Board's financial procedures.
But the most recent findings have raised doubts as to the purity of much of these offerings.
Cadmium Raises Health Concerns
Apart from the cost, cadmium has also been reported to be another major concern.
Cadmium is a toxic heavy metal classified as a carcinogen and long exposure can be serious health risks.
It is reported to be in the donated material and as a result, workers working with, transporting and refining the products have been worried about their safety.
In metal processing, safety measures need to be taken when such hazardous substances are detected, experts say.
Legal Proceedings Underway
Now we are in the courts
On May 9, 2026, advocate Deepak Sharma filed a complaint before the Jammu and Kashmir Police Crime Branch for criminal conspiracy, cheating, criminal breach of trust, misappropriation of offerings and manipulation of official records.
The complaint also questioned whether devotees had unknowingly been sold fake or adulterated silver by vendors before offering it at the shrine or whether genuine silver was replaced, diluted or misappropriated after being received by the Shrine Board.
Following the complaint, a Jammu court directed an inquiry officer from the Crime Branch to appear before it with all relevant records concerning the alleged Rs 500-crore silver irregularity.
The next hearing in the matter will be on 29 July 2026.
Shrine Board begins System Review
In response, the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board chaired by Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha held a high-level review meeting to review the current system for managing donations and offerings.
The officials reviewed procedures related to verification, collection, storage, transportation, banking safeguards and periodic audits at the meeting.
All financial transactions involving donations are carried out in accordance with prescribed banking regulations, statutory provisions and Government of India guidelines, the Board said.
According to officials, the transportation and refining of offerings is carried out through government-approved institutions such as the Reserve Bank of India and the India Government Mint, Hyderabad under tight security.
The Board said the review was to have complete transparency, accountability and strict adherence to established Standard Operating Procedures in handling devotees' offerings.
Questions Over Transparency and Trust
Besides the monetary value, the controversy has raised broader concerns about public trust in religious institutions.
The case has been a great case study in the need for better verification of precious metal donations, greater oversight of vendors who are selling religious offerings, and even more rigorous auditing of major pilgrimage centres.
With investigations on hand, authorities will try to determine whether the discrepancy was the result of impure silver being sold to devotees, weaknesses in the verification process after donations were received, or possible misappropriation in the handling chain.
With the Crime Branch investigating and judicial processes moving forward, we expect to see more clarity about one of the major controversies in recent years in donations at a major Indian religious institution over the next weeks.
