HYDERABAD: The famed Balapur laddu, which attracts nation-wide attention, went under the hammer for an all-time record price of Rs 24.60 lakh on Friday. The 21-kg laddu, neatly packed in two-kg silver bowl, was bagged by V Lakshma Reddy, a TRS leader, developer and one of the members of the Balapur Ganesh Utsav Samiti. This was Rs 5.70 lakh higher than the price it commanded in the auction held in 2021.
Though the bidders were ready to raise the price to bag the prized laddu and were seen requesting the committee members to continue the auction, Bhagyanagar Ganesh Ustava Samithi (BGUS) members suddenly announced the winner, leaving the aspirants disappointed. The BGUS committee seems to have kept a ceiling on the laddu price. It has been observed in the past 4-5 years that the auction was stopped and the winner announced once the bid amount rose by Rs 2 lakh over that of previous years. Such is the importance of the event that the auction of the laddu marks the beginning of the centralised Ganesh immersion procession from Balapur, which is on the city outskirts.
A total of nine bidders, including six local and three non-locals, mostly businessmen, participated in the auction held in the presence of Minister for Animal Husbandry Talasani Srinivas Yadav, Minister for Education Sabitha Indra Reddy, former Hyderabad Mayor Teegala Krishna Reddy and BGUS General Secretary Bhagwantha Rao. The auction was held amid loud chanting of ‘Ganpati Bappa Moriya’ by hundreds of devotees.
Speaking to Express, the elated Lakshma Reddy, the successful bidder of the laddu, said that it was a dream come true for him. “I am very happy to get the laddu with the Lord’s blessings. I will distribute it among my relatives and friends after performing puja to it at home.” Lakshma Reddy for past several years used to conduct the proceedings of the laddu auction, but this time he participated in the auction and bagged the laddu. Later, along with his family, he performed a special puja at the Hanuman temple located at the entrance of Balapur village.
The bidding process started at 10.30 am at the Balapur temple and finished within 10-15 minutes even as a large crowd watched from rooftops of nearby houses and apartments. In 2020, the auction was cancelled due to Covid lockdown and the laddu was handed over to Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao at Pragathi Bhavan by the members of Balapur Ganesh Utsav Samithi.
AUCTION PROCEEDS TO BE SPENT ON SCHOOL
The BGUS members told Express that the auction proceeds would be spent on the development of the school in the village, apart from improving facilities at the temple and Balapur.Believed to bring good luck to the winner, the Balapur laddu auction has been the centre of attraction for the past two decades during Ganesh festivities.