Remember the Mahindra Thar that the company donated as part of a ceremonial to the Guruvayur temple in Kerala? There was a minor squabble over the SUV’s first auction, and it was all over the headlines. To put an end to the squabbles, the temple board decided to hold another auction, and the Thar sold for Rs 43 lakh to Guruvayur Devaswom in the re-auction. The Mahindra Thar was auctioned for Rs 15.10 lakh at the first auction. The lucky winner of the re-auction is Vignesh Vijayakumar, a Non-Resident Indian businessman from Dubai.
Vignesh comes from the Angadippuram district of Malappuram, and his company is situated in Dubai. On behalf of Vignesh, his father, Vijayakumar, took part in the auction. At the auction, Anoop Arithottam, the general manager of Vignesh’s Wealth-i group of firms in Dubai, was also there. In comparison to the initial auction, the re-auction attracted a larger number of bidders. The original auction only had one bidder, whereas the re-auction got 14 bidders. According to Devaswon board administrator KP Vinayan, the devaswom managing committee met on May 16 to discuss the auction results, and the car was handed over to the winner after the committee approved the auction results.
“I feel happy to have gotten qualified to receive an automobile donated to Lord Guruvayurappan,” Vignesh Vijayakumar told the Times of India. I may own other cars with a larger material-financial value, but I consider this car to be the most valuable because it was given to me by Lord Guruvayurappan’s temple. I had given my representative permission to propose any price in order to win the auction.” To prevent any complications, the winner of the first auction, Mr. Ali, or his representatives, did not participate in the sale.
At the auction, Vignesh Vijayakumar paid Rs. 43 lakh for the Mahindra Thar. This does not include the GST. When you factor in the Goods and Services Tax, the Mahindra Thar’s price jumps to nearly 50 lakh. At this amount, a new Toyota Fortuner or Legender, which are far more capacious and feature-rich than a Mahindra Thar, could be purchased. It is apparent from Vignesh’s statement that he did not purchase the Mahindra Thar because it was a typical SUV. He just bought it since it was unique, and it is the country’s sole Thar that was gifted to Guruvayur Temple.
The Mahindra Thar that was presented to the shrine was the AX soft top model. The SUV has already been photographed and is accessible for viewing on the internet. Because this is the base model, it lacks alloy wheels and other features seen on higher-level models. It has white painted steel rims, minimal interiors, no multimedia system, side facing bench seats for rear passengers, and air conditioning, among other features. No matter which variation you choose, the Mahindra Thar comes standard with 44. Thar is available with both petrol and diesel engines, and both manual and automatic transmission options are available.
