Price no bar for gifting gold to Lord Ganesha

Besides shining on the bullion market, gold and silver as offerings have remained popular in Ganeshotsav. The price rise of these precious metals has not made any difference to the devotees when it comes to decking up the Lord with ornaments.

While 2.5 kg of gold ornaments will be added to the Ganesh idol at the GSB Seva Mandal in Sion, a 51-coin gold chain, along with another one, will soon be adorning the idol at GSB Sarvajanik Ganeshotsava Samiti in Wadala. Besides these offerings, four bangles of silver with gold plating will be offered at the Andhericha Raja Ganpati.

These offerings have already come or are on their way.

Those that will be offered during the festival will be over and above these.

Dr Bhujang Pai, spokesperson of GSB Seva Mandal, said, “Two devotees had told us that they would like to donate gold for the idol’s forearms. These will adorn the Lord when the festival starts. The ornaments for the forearms have already been made and will weigh up to 2.5 kg.”

The two devotees had bought and given the gold in February itself, Pai said, adding that it took seven months to make the ornaments. Gold cost around Rs30,000 (per 10 grams) in February.

The GSB Seva Mandal that boasts of accounting every gold ornament that adorns the idol will now have a total of 66.5 kg of gold after this year’s offerings, and 297.75 kg silver.

The other GSB mandal, which adorns the Lord with gold offerings, does not have an account of the total gold. Mandal trustee and secretary Ulhas Kamath said, “We only take pictures of the ornaments, not their weight. We make sure of one thing that the gold offered is of 22 karats. This year, a necklace of 51 gold coins and another long gold necklace are expected to come.”

While gold offering is big in these two mandals, silver ornaments with gold plating will be seen at the Andhericha Raja Ganpati Mandal.

Mandal spokesperson Uday Salian said, “Two people have promised us four bangles. These will be put up on the Lord after the idol comes in.”

Apart from the bangles, this year will see a 7.5 kg silver elephant at the mandal. It has been made from last year’s offerings by devotees.

A devotee who works in Hong Kong and is offering the bangles, Sudhakar Pujari, said, “I wanted to sponsor the Ganesh idol but those are booked way in advance. The bangles will be ready in a few days.”