For residents of Villupuram district of Tamil Nadu, lemons spiked on the spear of the presiding deity is probably the most valuable thing ever.
This year the temple management auctioned nine such lemons after the 11-day Panguni Uthiram festival that fetched a whopping Rs 68,000. One particular lemon was auctioned at Rs 27,000 as part of the age-old custom at the Balathandayuthapani temple in Tiruvanainallur, reported The Times of India.
Locals believe that getting one of the lemons spiked on the deity's spear will bring prosperity. It is also believed that childless couples will be blessed with children. The most auspicious and powerful lemon is the one used on day one to decorate the spear.
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This year's first lemon was purchased by Mahalingam and Jayanthi, a couple from Ottananthal for Rs 27,000.
However, in India, politicians have set high benchmarks of spending money in the name of god.
Earlier, in a princely offering, Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had donated gold ornaments worth around Rs 5 crore to the famous hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara in nearby Tirumala.
It was the first of such huge offering ever made by a state government after independence in the country, to the 2,000-year-old hill shrine, richest in the world.
