An incident where a coconut has been auctioned for a sum of Rs. 4,000 has been reported from the Jaffna area.
The auction, which is an annual event held to coincide with a festival of games including ‘pora pol’ (crashing of coconuts), was reportedly organised by the Young Hindu Group in Sanganai. The games were also organised by the same youth group.
As a fund-raising mechanism, the youth group had collected a few special coconuts to be auctioned among those participating in the games. Most of the selected coconuts had reportedly sold at a price above Rs. 1,000 each. However, with several participants trying to purchase one specific coconut, the auctioning price of that coconut had increased to Rs. 4,000.
The Sanganai youth group organises this event annually in order to preserve the traditional sport among the youth in the north.