Diamond company Rosy Blue’s social initiative - auction of a special created Ganapati diamond pendant for the benefication of children in sub-Saharan Africa, is slated for next week at the Banqueting Hall of Palace of Westminster at Whitehall. The pendant is characterized as a 119-carat pure blue diamond mined in South Africa and is given the shape of the Indian elephant god - Ganapati and is enclosed in a gold locket, along with a painting, reports say.

The pendant is named as Vilas Ganapati and has been donated to the Diamond Empowerment Fund , which was formed by the international diamond industry, sharing similar sentiments of promoting education in Africa.

Rosy Blue hired the service of Indian spiritual artist Udayraj Gadnis who has shaped the diamond into Ganapati and the painting with gold powder and crushed sapphires and semi-precious stones, which the artist worked upon sitting by the banks of the river Thames. The locket is designed to be worn by an individual — so that the stone itself can touch the heart. “Experience it,” The artist calls his creation Indu Vilas Ganapati, from the Indus Valley, symbolizing India and its close knit association with spirituality.

Reports sate that the auction is expected to be attended by leading personalities of the global diamond industry, including Varda Shine, head of Diamond Trading Company; Nicky Oppenheimer of De Beers , and Peter Sands of Standard Chartered. The auction price is expected to begin above £50,000 (Rs.3.57 crore), the intrinsic value of the stone and gold.