Devotee to donate Rs 2.5 cr to Japan

Bandra businessman goes to Siddhivinayak Temple, hears of ongoing auction, bids for costliest item to donate it to Indian victims of the quake-tsunami

Devotee to donate Rs 2.5 cr to Japan

Bandra businessman goes to Siddhivinayak Temple, hears of ongoing auction, bids for costliest item to donate it to Indian victims of the quake-tsunami

Yesterday, the quarterly auction at Siddhivinayak Temple stood testimony to a remarkable act of philanthropy, realised on the spur of the moment.

Between 11 am and 4 pm on Sunday, the temple's hall turned into an auction hall for the donations and offerings received by devotees in the year 2001-02.
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Pradeep Bhavnani, with the necklace that he bid Rs 2.75 lakh for

It included jewellery, ornaments and more of the same.

Between these hours, a businessman from Bandra, Pradeep Bhavnani (59), who is a loyal devotee of the temple's deity, happened to walk in with the intention of donating Rs 1.11 lakh.u00a0

He heard of the auction and spontaneously made a bid of Rs 2.75 lakh for a gold necklace worth Rs 2.73 lakh. It was the highest bid of the day made for any ornament at the temple.

Bhavnani said he thought of taking the costliest item and donating the money from its sale to Indian residents affected by the quake-tsunami in Japan.

The necklace will form part of his bigger donation, worth Rs 2.5 crore, from the sale of his other gold and silver jewellery.

u00a0"I came here to donate Rs 1.11 lakh. I was unaware of the auction but when I heard the announcement in the temple, I thought of taking the costliest item and bid for the necklace," said the trader.

He added, "I will donate this necklace, along with 120 kg of silver and 5 kg of gold,u00a0 (which is in all worth about Rs 2.5 crore), to Japan earthquake victims, specially Indians affected by it."

Bhavnani said he had decided on making the hefty donation when India won the World Cup.

But the auction at t he temple added to his resolve. Next week, he will hand over the cash and ornaments to the Japanese embassy at Cumballa Hill, from where it will find its way to the catastrophe-struck east.
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A trustee of t he temple, Nitin Kadam, said,u00a0 "We hold the auction every three months in order to help the needy.

It is done mainly to transform gold and silver jewellery into hard cash so that it is easy for us to help people. We can make donations of Rs 5,000 up to Rs 25,000, but not more as there are government restrictions."

u00a0Siddhivinayak temple will donate the money collected from the auction to financially disadvantaged students, to medical facilities for cancer and heart patients, and also for the repairs of college buildings.