Guruvayur temple’s controversial red Thar reauctioned for Rs 43 lakh

A red limited edition Mahindra Thar, which courted controversy last year after it was won by a Bahrain-based Malayali in an auction held by the Sree Krishna temple in Guruvayur here, was re-auctioned on Monday and this time the winning bid of Rs 43 lakh was made by a Malappuram-based devotee.

Incidentally, in the auction held in December last year, the winning bid by NRI Amal Mohammed Ali was of only Rs 15.10 lakh and he was the sole bidder.

This time round, there were around 15 bidders and the limited edition SUV fetched nearly three-times what was bid last time. The base price of the vehicle was fixed at Rs 15 lakh.

The winner — Dubai-based businessman Vignesh Vijayakumar — had told his agent that the vehicle has to be won no matter the cost, his father told a TV channel.

Vijayakumar wanted to win the SUV for his parents’ use, his father said.

”Very happy that we were able to buy the vehicle,” he said.

The winner will have to pay GST also for the vehicle before it can be taken home.

The vehicle was re-auctioned as some in the Guruvayur Devaswom had objected to handing over the vehicle to Ali.

The issue had reached the Kerala High Court which had suggested holding a public hearing to resolve it.

Subsequently, in the public hearing it was decided to re-auction the vehicle.