Namaste Keshava:

Thanks again. See, one can actually learn something here. I think for many of the temples regarding 'westerners' , its like customs, depends on who is manning the station at the time. From a travel forum I really get that message about Tirupati temple.

Unfortunately in India, donation, dakshina, gift, and bribe are all in a grey mishmash of some kind of payment.

Aum Namasivaya