Hyderabad: Economic slowdown didn’t deter Ganapathi Laddu auctions whatsoever in Hyderabad, with bidders offering lakhs of rupees to bag the Prasadam.
- New records set at Ganpati Laddu auction
- Balapur Laddu goes for Rs17.6 lakh
- Auctioning custom, which began in 1994, is a highly anticipated feature of Ganesh festivities in city
The much sought-after Balapur Laddu is no longer the reigning performer, having
been trumped by the Film Nagar Laddu this year.
BJP leader Pallapu Govardhan bagged the new record-setter for a mouthwatering Rs 17.75 lakh at Vinayak Nagar Basti in Film Nagar. Last year Vinayak Nagar Laddu had sold for Rs 15.1 lakh.
RV Residence, a gated villa community located in Keerthi Richmond Villas at Sun City in Hyderabad, raised a whopping Rs 18.51 lakh for charity by auctioning the auspicious Laddoo Prasad by bidding among themselves.
This is the third year running that the residents have out performed last year’s bids by more than Rs 5 lakh.
The coveted ‘Balapur laddu’ fetched Rs 17.6 lakh at an auction on Thursday.
Highest bidder Kolan Ram Reddy secured the 21-kg laddu at the 26th annual auction at the Balapur Ganesh pandal.
The Kolan family has for long been the highest bidders for the ‘laddu’, having bought it a record eight times since it first began being auctioned in 1994.
Last year, the laddu fetched Rs 16.6 lakh that was bid by T Srinivas Gupta. In the latest auction, bidding began on the streets filled with devotees at Balapur around
10.30 am.
A total 19 members participated in the bidding, which the Balapur Ganesh
Utsav Committee began at base price of Rs 1,116 from.
Within minutes, the bids starting shooting up, with the Kolan family making the winning bid of Rs 17.6 lakh.
The auction of Balapur Ganesh laddu has become one of the most anticipated annu-
al features during the festivities, gaining popularity every year after it was started in the early ’90s.
Bidders form as far as Nellor in AP to participating in the bidding on Thursday. Mohan Reddy of the Kolan family won it for the first time for Rs 450, and has personally bagged it five times since then.
Other members of his family too have secured the laddu thrice. The only woman winner to have made the winning bid
for it has been Saritha, who bagged it for Rs 5.10 lakh in
Locals say the custom of auctioning the laddu, considered auspicious for the person buys it, began in Balapur village.
Soon after the auction, the Balapur Ganesh procession started for immersion in
Hussain Sagar. It passed via Chandrayangutta, Aliabad, Charminar, Afzalgunj, M J Market, Abids and Liberty
even as other smaller groups joined the main procession.