The only clue that a Hindu temple once stood at 5900 Brook Hollow Parkway in Norcross is a tattered sign hanging above the portico.
The last of the sacred statues, elaborate wood carvings and other furnishings that once adorned the Hindu Temple of Georgia were stripped out of the building Monday. New owners are renovating the facility they bought at a foreclosure sale in December.
Bidders snapped up about 100 statues of deities an auction Saturday, along with other property sold to satisfy the temple's outstanding debts.
The temple claimed to have $9.4 million in assets and $15 million in liabilities when it filed for bankruptcy in October. The assets auctioned Saturday were valued by the temple at $4.5 million. The sale brought in about $89,000.
Some bidders were hesitant to buy the idols.
"I'd love to have one of these items, but in respect I would not buy them," said Louis Ligon, an auction aficionado from Duluth who attended Saturday's sale. "They belong in a temple where somebody can worship them on a daily basis, not in somebody's living room."
The temple's self-proclaimed guru, Annamalai Annamalai, who goes by the name Dr. Commander Selvam, spent about $15,000 to buy back 17 of the statues and other property. Barefoot and clad in white robes, the guru mingled with a crowd wearing blue jeans, tennis shoes and baseball caps.
He grew agitated at one point and interrupted the auctioneer to question him about bidders who were continuing to raise the price. Attorney Jesse Hill, who accompanied Annamalai, said the guru was "very upset" and "sees this as trying to auction off his children or his mother."
The temple has been dogged by controversy for the past two years. The Internal Revenue Service is investigating it for unpaid taxes. A court-appointed trustee in the federal bankruptcy case found evidence that Annamalai had been funneling money from the temple to pay the mortgage on his million-dollar mansion in Duluth, as well as credit card bills and loans on two personal luxury vehicles.
Annamalai was arrested in Gwinnett County last year on charges related to unlicensed practice of medicine and credit card theft, but the charges were dropped due to insufficient evidence.
Shiv Aggarwal, owner of the Global Mall near Norcross, bought two statues of deities for $125 and $175, respectively, to adorn his office. He said it would have cost about $1,000 to have one made in India.
Tracy Balenger of Ranburn, Ala., said an idol would make a good conversation piece.
"I'm kind of scared to buy it, though," Balenger said. "I'm afraid it might be cursed."
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