Mahidharpura’s Daliya Sheri – a diamond hub in Surat is home to the costliest Ganesh Idol in Gujarat. The enormous nine-foot Lord Ganesha idol is adorned with small and big CZ diamonds with studded gold and silver ornaments.
Lord Ganesha idol is covered with over 35,000 diamonds is accompanied by a small two-foot Ganpati idol made of gold and silver and based on the leaf theme. The gold and silver plated crown is studded with 5,000 diamonds, 6,500 diamonds in the legs and hand, three gold and silver necklace with 12,500 diamonds, gold earrings with over 2,000 diamonds and four gold and silver bracelets with 2500 diamonds. One of the devotees gifted the idol to the mandal. The Ganesha idol has been in this mandal since 1976. Every year, new ornaments are designed for the Vighnaharta. This time around, they have designed four gold and silver bracelets comprising more than 2,000 diamonds.
The entire pandal is under the CCTV surveillance for 24 hours. For the whole day and night around 25 trained security guards and over 150 mandal members will keep a close eye on the Ganesha idol. Every year, special arrangements are made on the Dumas beach for the immersion of the costliest idol. Also, the pandal replaces the original ornaments a with floral ornaments during the immersion day and a heavily guarded vehicle is used for transporting the valuable ornaments to the bank locker.
[Via – The-Times-Of-India]