mumbai believing that an offering at the altar of the lalbaugcha raja brings good luck hundreds of devotees queued up to place their bids during the mandals auction on saturday eveningthe first day of the threeday auction for the golden and silver offerings saw many outbid one another for models of ganesha his pet mouse and modaks crafted out of precious metalswhile other mandals have already put aside their earnings for the season the lalbaugcha raja ganeshotsav samiti opened its gold and silver hundis for evaluation friday most of its treasury staff members were busy counting cash until then the cash collection already adds up to rs 558 crore and the final figure could be higher says mandal treasurer shailesh bhujbalon saturday the price of gold in mumbai was rs 19160 per 10 gm while silver stood at rs 33500 per kg says suresh hundia president of bombay bullion association yet i have been informed that people are paying more than the market price to buy the gold and silver offerings of lalbaugcha raja this has to do with the popular belief that buying an offering from a holy place doubles ones fortunes and is a guarantor of good luckwithin an hour of the auction opening on saturday the lineup of bidders ranging from government contractors to smalltime businessmen and rich housewives paid lakhs of rupees for items they could only see from a distance and touch only after they wonamong the early winners was pradeep bhavnani the maverick businessman who had claimed to bid for mahatma gandhis former residence in johannesburg when it went under the hammer last year he showed off a silver replica of lalbaugcha raja which he bought for rs 15000 against the starting price of rs 500after that the little mice modaks cottages and cradles as well as traditional lamps or samai sold quickly gold rings and necklaces also witnessed a good fight host sudhir salvi of the mandal quite a seasoned auctioneer by now repeatedly called out to mehul suchita gaurav and vikrant as these favourite bidders signalled to him from their seatssaturday was reserved for the sale of small items while the grand offerings will be unveiled over the next two days