Auction of Balapur laddu cynosure of all eyes

Hyderabad: Famous Balapur Ganesh laddu auction which is taking place after demonetisation of high-value currency notes has become the cynosure of all eyes. The Balapur laddu auction is considered a trendsetter for similar auctions in the city. The Balapur Ganesh Utsav Samithi follows the tradition of conducting auction of the laddu every year.

Bidders compete with each other. Devotees have a strong belief that the laddu would bring prosperity for them. The winners take the laddu and distribute it among their friends and relatives and also spray in in the agriculture fields.

Starting from a mere Rs 450 in 1994 when K Mohan Reddy bagged the laddu in the first auction, the 21-kg laddu started attracting more and more bidders and during the last year’s auction, K Skylab Reddy (named after space station Skylab) purchased the laddu for Rs 14.65 lakhs.

This time, the organisers are keeping their fingers crossed as they fear that the demonetisation may have dampening effect on the auction.

The Balapur Ganesh Utsav Samithi founder member K Shankar Reddy told The Hans India that so far only nine people had registered their names as bidders by paying Rs 500 as fee. He hoped that there would be more number of bidderson Monday and the auction amount would set yet another new record. Last year there were 25 bidders. The laddu would go for auction on Tuesday, the day of mass immersion procession of city Ganesh idols.

The organisers said the laddu auction money is spent on the development of the Balapur village. The successful bidder can pay the money offered at the bidding the next year if he or she happens to be from Balapur village. But in case the bidder happens to be out of the village, he would be asked to pay the money on the spot.

By K Chandrashekar