Devotees thronged to buy the festive offerings, which included gold plated watches, coins, necklaces, chains, modaks, durvas and silver idols of different sizes, auctioned by the Lalbaugcha Raja Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal on Tuesday. The mandal claims to have received Rs 5 crore so far this year. “The money earned through auctioning is spent on various social projects that the mandal undertakes,” said Satish Khankar, the president of the mandal.

Over 100 devotees participated in the auction and they were ready to pay more than the market prices ranging from a few thousands to lakhs. According to the oragnisers, rare items like a silver note were in high demand.

The mandal has sold the coconuts offered to the Raja for as cheap as Rs 2. According to the organisers, the mandal has received around 5,000 bags of coconuts.

This year, devotees have been asked to produce the details of their pan cards to participate in the auction. According to devotees, it’s all faith that brings them here. For instance, Sandeep Garg from Delhi, a youth in his mid-twenties, had specially come to Mumbai along with his mother to participate in the auction. He bought a 52 gm gold chain worth around Rs 82,000 in the market for Rs 1,11,111 and a small silver Ganesh idol.

“I had only learnt about Lalbaugcha Raja through media, but never visited it before. When I learnt about the auctioning, we decided to come here. For me, it’s more than a material,” he said.

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