Kolhapur, Maharashtra: When thousands of devotees turned up for their regular "darshan" of deity Mahalaxmi earlier this week, they noticed a strange glint in her eyes — glowing but very different from what they were accustomed to.

They were surprised to learn that deity Mahalaxmi was "wearing" diamond-studded contact lenses, donated by an eye surgeon, Chandrashekhar Chavan, from the erstwhile princely state of Kolhapur but now living in Mumbai.

The contact lenses, made of tiny glittering diamonds and worth around Rs80,000 (Dh6,000), were donated to seek her blessings for a new eye technique developed by Chavan, which he is hoping to patent, said Padmaja Tivale, a member-trustee of the Shri Mahalaxmi Kolhapur Devasthan Management Committee.

"It was his [Chavan's] wish and desire to donate the diamond contact lenses and we cannot stop any devotee; so we respected his sentiments. However, on account of objections from some quarters, now we shall not display the contact lenses at regular darshans," Tivale told IANS.

Considered to be over 5,000 years old, the 40-kilogram idol of the deity here is made of gemstone and is studded with precious stones.

But controversy has erupted among devotees and media which has questioned the limits to which various temples and other religious places can go while accepting devotees' donations.

"When devotees visit a temple, they expect divine radiance from the eyes of the deity, not the shine emanated by diamonds," said an angry Jayshree Khadilkar-Pande, a prominent Marathi journalist who has strongly criticised deity Mahalaxmi's new "look".

Khadilkar-Pande said the diamond contact lenses actually block the deity's divine energies believed to pass through her eyes on to the devotees.

However, temple priest Ajit Thanedar defended the move, saying it added to the beauty of deity's idol like the other jewels adorning her.

"Moreover, the diamond contact lenses are temporarily stuck to the eyes of the deity and later easily removed without damaging it [the idol] in any manner," he claimed in a television statement.

He argued that just as the precious jewels and other holy articles of the idol are regularly changed, even the diamond contact lenses are a part of her belongings and the decision was taken unanimously by the temple managing committee.

Later, Thanedar conceded that following objections from some devotees, it has been decided to display the diamond contact lenses only in the presence of the donor and not on any other occasion.

The issue has triggered a debate among the deity's devotees in the state, with many questioning the propriety of various temple trusts accepting whimsical donations simply to fill up their coffers.

"Tomorrow, if somebody offers sunglasses or a mobile phone, will the trusts accept it?" an angry Megha Patil of Thane, who was visiting the Kolhapur temple last week, said.