Watch: Goddess Mahalakshmi donning precious saree made of 16 kg of gold

Pune (Maharashtra): Devotees in hordes flocked to have glimpses of goddess Mahalakshmi Devi at a temple in Pune city of Maharashtra on the occasion of the Dussehra festival. The unique thing about this temple is that the goddess dons precious metal sarees made of 16 kg of gold twice a year. This tradition has been practised for the past several years.          

An office-bearer of the Shree Mahalakshmi temple administration said the custom of wearing a 16kg gold saree was started at the temple located in Sarasbagh of Pune several years ago.  According to the custom, the goddess dons a golden saree with heavy embroidery work on it on the occasion of Vijayadashami and Lakshmi Puja which is on Diwali. The precious Saree is worn twice a year by the goddess.  

Office-bearers of the temple trust— Bansilal Ramnath Aggarwal, Rajkumar Agarwal, Amita Agarwal, Pratap Pardeshi, Tripti Agarwal, Bharat Agarwal, Praveen Chorbele, Hemant Arnalkar and others who were present on the occasion expressed similar views on the golden saree worn by the goddess. About 21 years ago, the artisans from South India crafted this costly saree and it took almost six months to complete the project. This golden saree was offered by a devotee.