Hyderabad: The much-popular Balapur Ganesh Laddu broke its own record by fetching Rs 16.60 lakh in the open auction held before the start of Ganesh immersion procession here on Sunday. This year, the laddu got Rs 1 lakh more than last year, which was bought by Nagam Tirupathi Reddy for Rs 15.60 lakh.
Excitement and surprises marked the Balapur laddu auction this morning. One T Srinivas Gupta of Balapur Arya Vysya Sangam president wrested the 21kg Laddu for Rs 16.60 lakh among 12 competitors in the nail-biting open auction. The devotees of Lord Ganapathi strongly believe that the sacred Laddu preserves health and wealth to the buyer. The laddu auction started at Rs.1,116.
Local leaders and businessmen competed with each other to own the Laddu as they believed it would bring them good luck. The funds yielded from the Laddu will be spent on the development of the village, temples and welfare activities. Today’s bidding started at around 9.30 am. After special pujas, Balapur Ganesh was taken in a mammoth procession of devotees. The tradition of auctioning the Laddu started in 1994 with formation of Balapur Ganesh Utsav Committee.
For the first time, the laddu was auctioned and one K Mohan Reddy, a local resident, bought it for Rs 450 only. The bid amount continued to rise year after year and Kolanu Mohan Reddy got it for Rs 4,500 in 1995, Kolanu Krishna Reddy wrested it for Rs 18,000 in 1996 and for Rs 28,000 in 1997. Again Kolanu Mohan Reddy got it for Rs 51,000 in 1998, Kallem Pratap Reddy for Rs 65,000 in 1999, Kallem Anji Reddy for Rs 66,000 in 2000, G Raghunandan Chary for Rs 85,000 in 2001, Kandada Madhava Reddy for Rs 1.05 lakh in 2002, Chigirinta Balreddy for Rs 1.55 lakh in 2003, Kolanu Mohan Reddy for Rs 2.01 lakh in 2004, Ibram Sekhar for Rs 2.08 lakh in 2005, Chigirinta Tirupathi Reddy for Rs 3 lakh in 2006, G Raghunandan Charay for Rs 4.15 lakh in 2007, Kolanu Mohan Reddy for Rs 5.07 lakh in 2008, Sarita for Rs 5.10 lakh in 2009, Kodali Sridhar Babu for Rs 5.35 lakh in 2010, Kolanu Bros for Rs 5.45 lakh in 2011, Pannala Govardhan Reddy for Rs 7.5 lakh in 2012, Teegala Kista Reddy for Rs 9.26 lakh in 2013, Singireddy Jaihind Reddy for Rs 9.50 lakh in 2014, Kolanu Madan Mohan Reddy for Rs 10.32 lakh in 2015, Skylab Reddy for Rs 14.65 lakh in 2016, Nagam Tirupathi Reddy for Rs. 15.60 in 2017 and this year it was sold for Rs 16.60 lakh. As the winners of the Laddu prospered well, the demand for laddu has been rising every year.
After the auction, the Utsav committee members felicitated T Srinivas Gupta and presented him a two kilogram silver plate along with the laddu to him. Police had made elaborate bandobust arrangements. Speaking on the occasion, Srinivas Gupta said he was very happy to own the laddu in his first attempt this year. He said he would distribute the precious laddu prasadam to the people. (NSS)
