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The man shared that the only thing he needed to do was to wear traditional clothes and carry a plate with vermillion paste for him to earn Rs 2,350 in 3 hours
The man shared that if someone did this for a month, they could earn around Rs 70,000 (Image: X/@hvgoenka)
Can applying a simple tilak on devotees become a lucrative source of income? Of course, it can. A content creator recently did a social experiment in Rishikesh, where he said that the only things that he needed were to dress up in a traditional attire and carry a thali with a vermillion paste and a trishul-shaped applicator, that’s it, that’s the only investment needed. In just three hours, he ended up earning over Rs 2,300.
“New Way Of Making Money”
The viral video has now caught the attention of social media users, including industrialist Harsh Goenka, who shared it on X with the caption, “New way of making money,” triggering a flood of reactions online.
In the video, the creator began by dressing in traditional attire in maroon colour before stepping onto the streets of Rishikesh to offer a tilak to devotees. Initially, the experiment appeared to be a failure, with many people refuting the offering.
“But people are literally refusing to get one,” he said, adding that he was able to apply tilak to only 20 people int he first hour.
At that point, he believed that he would get no more than Rs 50 to Rs 60. But the situation took a turn during the evening Ganga Aarti. As the crowd gathered at the ghat, people began voluntarily offering money after getting a tilak. While some donated Rs 10 or Rs 20, others decided to offer Rs 100 or more.
“In just 3 hours, I end up applying tilak to nearly 400 people,” he said. “So, here we have the total collection of Rs 2,350.” He further estimated that if someone were to earn a similar amount every day, the monthly income could reach nearly Rs 70,000.
“In The Name Of Religion, This Is How Easily We Cheat Ourselves”
The social experiment sparked a debate online, with many questioning the ethics of treating religious practices as a business opportunity.
One user said, “In the name of religion, almost any business can become successful.”
“This is one of the biggest problems in our country. People have turned places like temples into places for experiments, and then they make such videos and post them on social media, speaking in English just to get views. What is the need for all this, after all?” asked a person.
“In the name of religion, this is how easily we cheat ourselves. As per Shastras, only your purohit can apply such tilaks, and the receiver has to seek blessings by touching the feet of the person applying it. This type of tilak holds no significance apart from showing off in the name of Dharma,” someone else remarked.
Another individual mentioned, “It is now new but dominated by few in every teerth place. Proper business model for decades.”
“It’s not a new way of making money. It’s called temple economics,” a different person commented.
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