City's most famous Ganpati mandal, which will be auctioning their donations from today, has received 6 kg gold, 100 kg silver, and even a car from devotees this year

After the end of Ganeshotsav, mandals across the city were not left disappointed with the donations received this year. Devotees have gifted mandals in the form of cash, gold, silver, and even a car.



Last year, the Lalbaugcha Raja mandal managed to raise Rs 62 lakh by auctioning their gold donations. File pic

The most popular mandal of the city, Lalbaugcha Raja, has received Rs 6.9 crore in cash, around 6 kg gold and 100 kg silver this year, more than their last year’s total collection of Rs 7 crore.

A devotee has also gifted a car to the mandal, and unlike the fiasco in 2006, when they forgot to check the papers of the car donated to them, this year the registration papers seem to be in place for the auction. The mandal will be auctioning it, along with the gold and silver received in donations, between Friday and Sunday for the devotees.

The money collected will go to the mandal’s trust funds. “We have collected more cash as compared to last year, and also received a car. We have checked the papers thoroughly to ensure that we don’t face any hassles while auctioning it,” said Mahesh Jadhav, treasurer of Lalbaugcha Raja mandal.

The richest mandal of the city GSB Seva mandal has collected Rs 74 lakh in cash donations this year, and are yet to declare their gold and silver collected. At the beginning of the festival, they had received a vaijanti mala (beads) made out of 2.5 kg gold and 12 kg silver, along with a hibiscus flower made from 150 grams of gold.

Mumbaicha Raja has also not opened their gold and silver donation boxes yet, but cash collection has crossed Rs 55 lakh during the festival. Swapnil Parab, secretary of Ganesh Galli mandal, said, “We have collected about Rs 55 lakh and are yet to value our silver and gold donations.”

Andhericha Raja’s visarjan today

While for most Ganesh mandals, their pandals were vacated after the immersion on 11th day, the famous suburban mandal, Andhericha Raja, will be immersing their idol on Friday. The procession is expected to start around 5.30 pm.

Taking extra precautions for the day of immersion, members of the mandal also met with the BMC authorities and discussed the state of the roads from where they would carry out the procession.

The mandal claims that it has received a good response from devotees this year, and has planned to make a crown for their idol, but would value the same only after the immersion. Andhericha Raja has so far received a three-kilogram silver foot from a devotee.