The Penang Hindu Endowment Board (PHEB) collected over RM370,000 in donations during the Thaipusam festival earlier this month.

This is the highest collection in the last nine years, said PHEB chairperson P Ramasamy in a press conference today.

According to Ramasamy, the counting of the collection amounting to RM370,583.84 was completed by PHEB officers last Friday.

The figure is a far cry from about RM91,000 collected in 2008, and last year's RM188,814.70.