Hyderabad: Demonetisation by the Centre has no affect on the auction of ‘Ganesh laddu’ this year, as it break the previous year's bidding price. The famous ‘Balapur Ganesh’ laddu weighing around 21 kg was auctioned for a whopping Rs 15.60 lakh. A realtor, hailing from Jubilee hills here, Nagam Tirupati Reddy, bought the laddu for Rs 15.60 lakh in an open auction conducted before the start of the procession carrying the massive Ganesh idol from Balapur , a hamlet in old city here today. The successful bid for the famous laddu this time was Rs 95,000 more than previous year.
However, in last year, Skylab Reddy, bought the laddu for Rs 14.65 lakh. The practice of auction of the 'laddu" began some two decades ago and the proceeds of the auction are used for the development of the area, according the Bhagyanagar Ganseh Utsav Samiti members. The practice of auction of the ‘Balapur laddu’began in 1994 with a price of Rs 450 and within 23 years, the laddu crossed the lakh mark. A farmer, Kolan Mohan Reddy was first to bid for the laddu for Rs 450 and his life witnessed a sea change thereafter.
He distributed the laddu among family members, to locals and sprinkled the rest in his farmland. Subsequently, the vegetables yield in his farm increased and his life changed. As the laddu brought good luck to him, he managed to successfully bid for it five times so far in the 23 years of auctioning. The auctioning of Balapur Ganesh laddu has set a trend for others and it has now become a mandatory custom in every pandals across the country. (UNI)