Guruvayoor temple re-auctions Thar donated by Anand Mahindra for Rs 43 lakh

A Mahindra Thar SUV fetched a record Rs 43 lakh in an auction in Kerala. The car, which is currently priced at around Rs 13 lakh in the market, was donated to the Sree Krishna Temple in Guruvayur by Mahindra MD Anand Mahindra, reported Manorama Online. Around 15 bidders participated in the auction which was held on Monday. The auction started with a base bid of Rs 15 lakh where people soon started quoting up to Rs 33 lakh in the first round itself.

The winning bid was made by a Dubai-based businessman named Vignesh Vijayakumar who bagged the Thar for Rs 43 lakh. Besides the quoted amount, Vijayakumar will also have to pay Goods and Services Tax (GST) to register the vehicle in his name.

This wasn’t the first time the Thar went under the hammer. The Guruvayur devaswom had tried to auction the SUV on December 18 last year. However, only one bidder had turned up at the auction that day after which a re-auction was ordered.

In the first auction, the sole participant Subhash Panicker won the car for Rs 15.10 lakh. He had competed on behalf of his friend Amal Mohammad Ali, a Bahrain-based industrialist. Following this, an outfit called the Hindu Seva Sangham approached the High Court alleging that the auction wasn’t publicised enough.

The auction was subsequently declared invalid and a re-action was ordered by the Devaswom Commissioner.

Vijayakumar won the bid in the recent auction after his manager Arun attended the auction for him. According to Vijayakumar, his son urged him to get the SUV even if the bid touches Rs 50 lakh. A bidder, Manjusha, had quoted Rs 40.50 lakh and was close to winning the vehicle. But, Vijayakumar raised the bid to Rs 43 lakh and won the auction.

Arun shared that Vijayakumar was a devotee of Guruvayoorappan and was elated to win the SUV, reported The New Indian Express.

This Mahindra Thar was donated by Anand Mahindra to the temple when he visited it on December 4, 2021.