Mumbai/ Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 21 (IANS): A cheque of Rs 36.17 lakhs, raised from a fundraiser auction of 32 works of modern and contemporary Indian art, was donated on Wednesday to Kerala Chief Ministers Distress Relief Fund by auction house Saffronart.

The donation was made by Saffronart CEO Dinesh Vazirani, who met Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday morning.

"People from around the country came together for our fundraiser auction in August, and we are humbled to be able to contribute this amount of Rs 36 lakhs to the Kerala Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund.

"We hope to see a similar show of solidarity in our next fundraiser auction for the cause in January 2019, in partnership with the Kochi Biennale Foundation. We stand by the resilient people of Kerala and their government, which is leading the commendable relief efforts and helping people rebuild their lives," Vazirani said.

StoryLTD by Saffronart raised the amount during its Kerala Flood Relief Fundraiser Auction on August 29-30.

Among the top ten lots sold in the no reserve online auction were works by well-known Kerala-born artists including K.G. Subramanyan and Riyas Komu, as well as leading Indian artists such as Ram Kumar, Dhananjay Singh and Thota Vaikuntam.

The fundraiser sale, the auction house said, was conducted to assist ongoing relief efforts in the state, which recently experienced the worst floods to occur there in over 90 years, causing widespread displacement and destruction.