Mumbai: While the legions of devotees of Lalbaugcha Raja have grown, there has been a drop in their donation this year. The near, record-breaking rains in September may have proved a damper to darshan and correspondingly ‘daan’.
This year, cash offerings totalled Rs6.05 crore while the annual auction of gold and silver offerings netted around Rs1.25 crore. The mandal also received 80kg silver and 4kg gold, which was auctioned on Monday and there will be another one on Tuesday.
Last year’s cash collection was Rs6.5 crore, according to Mangesh Dalvi, the treasurer of the Lalbaugcha Raja Sarvajanik Mandal. The highlight was a golden thali, including two bowls and one spoon weighing 1.2kg which was worth Rs49 lakh.
The mandal reserves a special hundi for bullion to receive jewellery. Mandal president Balasaheb Kumble said, “The heavy rain during the festival affected the collection a bit. Like every year, we will use the money for social causes.”
