HYDERABAD: A laddu offered notionally to the Ganesh idol during the Vinayaka Chaturthi festivities in Hyderabad was auctioned to devotees on Tuesday, and it went for Rs 15.60 lakh.
Famous for annual auction of its laddu, the Balapur Ganesh pandal in the Old City of Hyderabad plans to use the money on development of the locality. Last year, the laddu was auctioned for Rs 14.65 lakh. The first-ever auction of the Balapur laddu went for Rs 450 back in 1994.
The Balapur Ganesh idol is among the larger festival idols which are paraded on the streets of Hyderabad on their way to immersion in the Hussain Sagar Lake. The biggest idol, however, is the 60 ft leviathan erected at Khairatabad locality of the city. The Balapur idol leads the procession every year while the Khairatabad one brings up the rear in view of the special engineering it requires to immerse it.
More than 24,000 policemen and personnel from the Rapid Action Force have been posted all along the route to prevent any communal disturbances.
The laddu auction has been a tradition on the day of Ganesh immersion for over two decades now.
It is believed that the traditional sweet brings prosperity to those who win it in the auction.