Hyderabad: Ganesh Chaturthi festivities in Hyderabad ended on a high note with laddu auctions setting bumper records in different parts of the city.
The residents of Keerthi Richmond Villas, a gated community in Rajendranagar’s Sun City, jointly bought a five-kilogram laddu for a whopping Rs 41 lakh, the most expensive laddu ever bought in an open auction. Last year, the Ganpati laddu was auctioned for 27 lakh and in 2019, it was bought by a businessman for Rs 18.7 lakh.
Sun City residents broke the record of the famous Balanagar Ganesh laddu, which fetched Rs 18.9 lakh this year. The 21-kg gold-plated sweet was bought by YSR Congress MLC Ramesh Yadav and businessman Marri Shashank Reddy who will gift the prasad to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and YSR Congress chief Jagan Mohan Reddy.
Balapur Ganesh Utsav organisers said the concept of laddu auction was first introduced by them in 1994 where the prasad was sold for Rs 450. Since then, with growing popularity through word of mouth and social media, the annual auction started becoming a trendsetter with the gigantic motichoor laddu fetching lakhs from bidders participating from both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
“We use the money to sponsor various kinds of welfare initiatives. From helping flood-affected victims to building schools and temples in the interior parts of Telangana, our committee has spent over 72 lakhs to help the poor,” said Niranjan Reddy, Balapur Ganesh Utsav Committee member.
Another hair-raising auction was held at My Home Bhooja residential society where a businessman bought two of these popular sweets for a whopping Rs 18.5 lakh.
“Many may call this bizarre, but it is not like any other normal Laddu prasad, it’s sacred and blessed by the almighty. In our society, whoever wins the bid, they always distribute the laddus to everyone to promote positivity and harmony among all the people,” a resident said.
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Source: News18