It may be hard to believe but the cost of a lotus flower in Bhubaneswar on Thursday was Rs 100, a ten-fold increase considering the prices only a few days back.

Some roadside florists even sold it for Rs 200. Such was the craze for lotus on Thursday that nearly 1.5 lakh flowers were sold in Bhubaneswar within 12 hours from Wednesday evening to Thursday morning.

The reason — it was a Thursday in the month of “Margasira” when everyone wanted to worship Laxmi, the goddess of wealth.

“As per the Hindu Almanac, Laxmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity, is worshipped on Thursday in the month of Margasira in each Odia household. Today is the fourth and last Margasira Thursday. Since there is a demand for lotus, the florists take advantage of it and the price of lotus flower goes up," explained Ranjita Patnaik, headmistress (retired) of a high school.

Jogendra Rana, owner of Maa Jagulai Florist at CRPF Square, said: "What can we do? We are buying the lotus at a high price. Such was the demand that we had to place an order for lotus flowers a week in advance. There is no option but to sell it at a higher price. The customers don’t mind paying extra money to buy a fresh Lotus. Although I sold lotus at Rs 100, today I managed to sell a lotus at Rs 200 also. That lotus was procured from a local pond and was comparatively fresh from other lotus flowers that we brought from outside.”