Lalbaugcha Raja set to get richer despite economic crisis

Faith seems to transcend economic crisis. And Mumbai's famous Lalbaugcha Raja seems to be a Ganesh idol whose devotees disreagrded the economic downturn to ensure that the Lord's coffers keep swelling .The mandal has this year already received about Rs. 8,16,35,000 in donations and the counting is still going on.u00a0

The Lalbaugcha Raja Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal is expecting Rs 10 crore in cash after the counting gets over in the next few days. The mandal is also anticipating a jump in the collection from last year's total of Rs 12 crore to Rs 15 crore, a rise of Rs 3 crore. Cash collection has risen from Rs 8 crore to Rs 10 crore and the organisers expect a rise of another Rs one crore from the auction. Last year, the Rs 12 crore included the auctioned gold, which was sold for Rs. 4 crore.

The 1kg golden football donated to Lalbaugcha Rajau00a0Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal.

The mandal, meanwhile, has also received 13 kilograms of gold donations. This gold will be auctioned from Friday to Sunday with devotees who wish to buy gold which has the blessing of the famous Ganesh idol.

Apart from the cash which the organisers received during the 11 days of the festival from the collection boxes, the mandal's office also collects cash on the Visarjan day. Based on the latest counting, the amount collected on Visarjan day has now reached Rs.6,60,000. Last year, the total money collected from the boxes on visarjan day was Rs 1.6 crore.

The mandal has this year also received a 1kg golden football, which they hope will auction for around Rs 35 lakh.u00a0