Builder buys 1 kg gold for Rs 31.35 lakh at Lalbaugcha Raja auction
Chetan Joshi, a builder by profession, bought the most expensive article offered by a devotee to Lalbaugcha Raja this year. He bid the one kg gold biscuit for Rs 31.35 lakh. After its purchase, the total auction amount at Lalbaugcha Raja this year stood at Rs 97,96,500.
“In 2016, the auction amount stood at Rs 1.5 crore, collected from over 225 articles of which the total weight of gold was 5 kg, and that of silver was 80 kg,” said Mahesh Jadhav, treasurer of the mandal.
This year, there were 125 articles offered, which mandal officials said probably fell due to the rains. Only 82 were auctioned. Of these, the total gold weighed 5.5 kg, while silver weighed 75 kg. Besides the one kilogram gold brick, there were two gold idols of Lord Ganpati and Goddess Lakshmi collectively weighing over 1.1kg. The Ganpati weighing .587 kg was bid at Rs 15.60 lakh, while the Lakshmi idol weighing .517 kg was bid for Rs 15.60 lakh. There were also two gold chains around .250 kg. Offerings this year also saw notes banned from circulation post demonitisation. They stood at Rs 1.30 lakh. Articles not auctioned due to lack of time, mandal organisers say …read more
