Hyderabad, Aug 5
The Tirupati laddu, given
away as 'prasad' at the hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara at 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 Venkateswara.
Although the temple offers various types of 'prasad', the laddu is more popular among pilgrims.
According
to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), which manages the affairs
of the hill shrine, about ninety million laddus were given away to
pilgrims in 2014.
The normal price of a 300 gram laddu is Rs.25.
The TTD says that 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
the money. The sweet is also made in Delhi and some state capitals on
special occasions.
The sale of prasad is a major source of income for the temple, which had a budget of Rs.2,401 crore for fiscal 2014-15.
TTD
had projected an income of Rs.190 crore from prasad sale, the same as
the income expected from sale of human hair of pilgrims who tonsure
their heads.
The laddu is in great demand on special occasions.
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.
According to TTD, over 22.6 million pilgrims visited the temple during 2014. They offered Rs.831 crore in 'Srivari Hundi'.
The temple also earned Rs.655 crore from interest on money deposited in national banks in fiscal 2014-15.
The temple has deposits of over Rs.12,000 crore besides 32 tonnes of gold ornaments.
(Mohammed Shafeeq can be contacted at m.shafeeq@ians.in)
