Famed Tirupati laddu in its 300th year

Hyderabad: The Tirupati laddu, distributed to pilgrims as 'prasad' at the hill shrine of Lord Venkateshwara in Tirupati, has entered its 300th year. Temple officials say the sacred offering was introduced on August 2, 1715. No pilgrimage to the world's richest Hindu temple is complete without the laddu, made from flour, sugar, ghee, oil, cardamom and dry fruits.

The mouth-watering sweet is the most sought after prasad after prayers to Lord Venkateshwara. Although the temple offers various types of 'prasad', the laddu is more popular among pilgrims. According to the Tirumala-Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), which manages the affairs of the hill shrine, about 90 million laddus were given away to pilgrims in 2014.

The normal price of a 300 gram laddu is Rs 25. The TTD says that the use of quality ingredients makes it costly but it sells laddu at a highly subsidised rate. As a privilege to pilgrims, two laddus are issued at a further subsidized rate of Rs 10 each. The temple authorities issue laddu token to the pilgrims after collecting money.

The sweet is also made in Delhi and some state capitals on special occasions. It had a budget of Rs 2,401 crore for the fiscal 2014-15. The TTD had projected an income of Rs 190 crore from prasad sale, the same as the income expected from the sale of human hair of pilgrims who tonsure their heads.

The authorities sell the prasad round the clock during Brahmotsavam. Last year, about 1.8 million laddus were sold in the first seven days of Brahmotsavam, breaking all previous records. The authorities make elaborate arrangements to ensure uninterrupted supply of laddus to the pilgrims.

They have the capacity to produce 300,000 laddus a day but they keep sufficient stocks during Brahmotsavam. Nearly 620 people, including 270 cooks, work in the laddu and other prasad making units. The TTD took up modernisation of the temple kitchen last year with the installation of two escalator belts for laddus and boondi crates.

TTD Joint Executive Officer K S Sreenivasa Raju said that the conveyor systems have the capacity to transfer up to 800,000 laddus every day. The Office of the Registrar of Patents, Trademarks and Geographical Indications in 2014 awarded the Geographical Indication (GI) status to the Tirupati laddu.

TTD officials said they had to enforce GI rights as some small-time miscreants as well as large known sweet outlets have been selling laddus with names similar to 'Tirupati laddu'. The Madras High Court in 2013 restrained a sweet stall in Chennai from using the brand name 'Tirupati laddu'. The TTD had argued that 'Tirupati laddu' has its own sanctity as it is offered at the feet of Lord Venkateswara before being made available to devotees.

Black-marketing in laddu thrives

Black-marketing of Tirupati laddu is thriving despite regular efforts by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams to curb the menace. A few months back, the circulation of fake laddu tokens shook up the TTD administration and the latter took several corrective measures to further streamline the prevailing systems and save the visiting devotees from falling prey to touts.

However, the black-marketing is back again to haunt the temple administration. The vigilance wing sleuths, who acted on a tip-off about the laddu black-marketing at the laddu counters at Tirumala, found out the mischief by laddu tray lifters and took one of the laddu tray lifters, Guravaiah, into custody for questioning.

It is learnt that he had received 60 laddu tokens (individual tokens) to purchase about 300 laddus and sell them at exorbitant prices to the devotees. He reportedly said that he had got the laddu tokens from another laddu tray lifter Venkatesh, who the vigilance wing sleuths believe to be the kingpin behind the black-marketing racket. Venkatesh is at large.

By Mohammed Shafeeq