Devotees decorate Ratlam Mahalaxmi temple with cash and jewellery during Diwali
The 300-year-old temple in Madhya Pradesh uses currency and precious metals for decoration instead of conventional items during the five-day festival.
Devotees at the Mahalaxmi temple in Manak Chowk, Ratlam, decorate the shrine with cash, gold, and silver jewellery during the Diwali festival, according to the Free Press Journal.
The temple management records these deposits and returns them to devotees after Deepotsav upon presentation of tokens or registration. Each return includes a 'Kuber Potli'.
Temple priest Ashwin Pandit said the temple is more than 300 years old. He stated that the 'Kuber Potli' provided to devotees contains a coin touched by the Goddess and worship material.
Devotee Pandit Prakash Joshi said local tradition connects this practice to Maharaja Ratan Singh Rathore, the founder of Ratlam state. Joshi claimed the Maharaja offered royal treasury jewellery to the Goddess for five days during Diwali.
Joshi added that the idol holds a bundle belonging to Kubera in its hand. The decoration process begins on Dhanteras and continues through the five-day Deepotsav, following initial deposits from Sharad Purnima.
Businessmen provide cash and account-related offerings, while families deposit jewellery. Many people keep the returned notes or the 'Kuber Potli' at home or business locations as symbols of prosperity.