At the holy sale held by the temple's trust, precious items worth Rs 9,11,000 were auctioned; a surprising number of young children knew exactly which blessed objects to vie for
At the holy sale held by the temple's trust, precious items worth Rs 9,11,000 were auctioned; a surprising number of young children knew exactly which blessed objects to vie for
It was that time of the month when pious devotees from across the city converged at the Siddhivinayak Temple, to bid for prasaad of a different, and albeit costly kindu00a0-- not little bits of withering flowers or sticky wedges of sweets, but far more permanent and 'valuable', to say the least. The Shree Siddhivinayak Ganapati Temple Trust yesterday organised its monthly auction of gold ornaments, which it accumulates in donations. 
Locked in: Aarya Etekar with her mother Parul who bought her a locket
The auction of about 110 items began at 11 am, the catalogue of blessed items on offer comprising gold chains, lockets, rings, gold biscuits, coins and bangles. Customers could pay 25 per cent of its total cost as down payment, and pay off the rest in installments over the next ten days. This reporter did a double take to discover that in attendance of the event were not just devout elders or middle-aged businessmen, but a bandwagon of patient children, indulging in some back-seat auctioning, giving their parents instructions on what to buy.
One such youngster was the 10-year-old Tanishq Khatavkar, who had come from Panvel, with a very specific agenda. "I wanted to buy Hanuman's gold gadaa, which I had seen at an auction at the Lalbaug Ganpati festival. I didn't find it here. My parents bought me these coins instead. I would still love to have the gadaa though," said the wistful devotee. The Khatavkar family bought gold coins worth Rs 7,751. 
Dristi Patel's father bought her a gold locket of Rs 9,000
Also present was 4-year-old Dristi Patel. "She has been accompanying me every Tuesday to the temple, ever since she was a little baby. I bought her this locket, which she has already taken to, it seems," said her father. The tiny-tot's trinket came with a price tag of Rs 9,000.
Another toddler, resplendent in pigtails, was two-and-a-half year old Aarya Etekar, who had travelled to the temple from the distant shores of Philippines. Her mom Parul Etekar said, "She loves all things feminine, so I bought her this locket. Little Aarya could already be seen immersed in pulling the wrappings off the locket.
"My three-and-a-half year old daughter Kanishka is an ardent devoutee of Ganpati, so I purchased a ring and locket, collectively costing me Rs 5200," said Sangeeta Hegde, an astrologer. CB Kothari, an employee at BARC, was accompanied by his 15 year-old son Harshit, and purchased gold worth Rs 20,000 for him and his daughter Hemali. 
Ring tring: Three-month-old Nirmit with his mother who bought him a
gold ring worth Rs 6,200. Pics/Dhara Vora
The youngest 'auctioneer' was 3-month-old Nirmit. Quiet all through the auction, he started wailing copiously the minute his parents bought him a gold ring worth Rs 6,200. "We have come to the auction for the first time and wanted to buy something special and blessed for our first born," said his father Nitin.
Amardeep Bajpayee (29) came all the way from the nation's capital for the auction. "I wanted to acquire something here that I could wear all the times. I am an ardent believer of Siddhivinayak. My friends intimated me about this auction, and I came down all the way to get this prasaad," said Bajpayee.
"We sold 56 items out of the 110, raking in about Rs 9,11,000 in total. Usually we rake in Rs 12-15 lakh, so sales have been comparatively low this time. The largest sum paid was Rs 80,000 for a 31.1 gram gold kadaa. But we also sold items for as little as Rs 2,700," said Mangesh Shinde, CEO of the trust. All the money collected will be sent to the trust fund.
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