lord ganesha
SURAT: Like most devotees, Kanubhai Asodaria (52) is offering prayers to Lord Ganesha these days.
Kanubai Asodaria had bought this stone from Antwerp, Belgium (TOI)
Only minutes before he performs puja at his posh flat along river Tapi, he opens his safe, takes out the lord’s idol and offers his prayers.
The only difference: the devotee is a diamantaire and idol is a diamond.
Asodaria got this 182.53 carat rough about 10 years ago from Antwerp, Belgium. The stone with outlines of a trunk, eyes, ears and even legs was mined from South Africa.
‘‘I had purchased rough stones in bulk. When I was sorting them out at home, I could make out that the biggest stone resembled
Lord Ganesha. I decided to preserve it and this is the only stone I have refused to part with all these years,’’ said Asodaria, who runs Karam Exports, a small diamond firm.
A leading London-based auction house had offered him huge money for the stone about six years back. But Asodaria says he does not intend selling it. ‘‘I consider myself lucky to have this diamond. It is a blessing from the lord himself,’’ says Asodaria, adding he has to make elaborate arrangements to protect the gemstone this time of the year when Ganesha has to come out of the safe hideout everyday. A native of Gondal near Rajkot, Asodaria moved to Surat 14 years ago and started his own diamond business.
Like other diamond traders, he sources roughs from abroad and gets them polished here in Surat.
He refuses to get this stone polished as it would lose its divine shape.
The diamond is certified by the central government-run Indian Diamond Institute (IDI), Surat. IDI director K K Sharma said, ‘‘It is difficult to fix a price for such a huge stone which are rare.’’ The yellowish grey stone is approximately 48 mm high, 32 mm wide and 20 mm thick and weighs 36.50 grams.
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