Hyderabad: Balapur’s 21-kg laddu won't go under the hammer this year

The laddu auction at Balapur that starts early within the morning of the 11th day of the puja may be a major attraction per annum and is followed by a procession to Hussainsagar lake, 20 km away.

ludu

For the primary time in over 25 years, the Balapur Ganesh Utsav Samithi in Hyderabad won't auction the 21-kg laddu prasad this year. Last year’s auction had fetched Rs 17.60 lakh.

The laddu auction at Balapur that starts early within the morning of the 11th day of the puja may be a major attraction per annum and is followed by a procession to Hussainsagar lake, 20 km away.

With the country within the middle of an epidemic , the samithi members also decided to put in a 6-feet-tall Ganesh idol rather than the standard 21-feet idol and restrict visitors.


Devotees won't be allowed to go to the Ganesh pandal during the 11-day festivities. Only committee members are going to be allowed to participate within the puja during the installation of the idol on August 22. a choice on the procession from Balapur to Hussainsagar lake for immersion of the idol are going to be decided supported the rules or permissions from the government , the organizers said.

Kallem Niranjan Reddy, president of the committee, told indianexpress.com : “Due to the COVID situation, we are forced to drop the tradition of auctioning prasad. per annum , ten to fifteen persons from different parts of the country bid for the laddu, and therefore the highest bidder takes the prasad home.”

The money from the auction is employed for developmental activities within the area.

Gaining popularity with every passing year, the Balapur laddu auction has always fetched a much bigger sum than the previous year. In 2018, the laddu was auctioned for Rs 16.6 lakh. A successful bid is believed to inaugurate prosperity to the winner of the auction. The 21-kg laddu is ready and donated by one D Uma Maheshwar Rao of Honey Foods per annum .

“We haven't heard from the government on guidelines for this year’s Ganesh Utsav. there's no word from the Bhagyanagar Utsav Samithi, too. we've decided to travel ahead with a 6-feet tall idol and restrict devotees from visiting the pandal,” said Reddy, adding that the idol are going to be made from Plaster-of-Paris because the clay idol wouldn't be ready to hold the heavy laddu.

A few days ago, citing the pandemic situation, the Khairatabad Ganesh Utsav Samithi had decided to put in a 27-feet clay idol this year rather than a 66-feet idol as planned before.

The 11-day Ganesh Utsav this year is scheduled to commence on August 22 and immersion of idols for September 1. The government has not issued any guidelines regarding the festivities yet.