In an auction, a laddu from a Ganpati pandal in Hyderabad brought in a staggering Rs45 lakh. Venkata Rao and Geetapriya made the highest bid during the auction for the 12-kg laddu prasad (holy offering) at Marakatha Shree Lakshmi Ganapati Utsav Pandal in Kanojiguda, Secunderabad. The precious laddu was also purchased by the couple at the auction the previous year.
In Telugu-speaking states, it is customary to auction off laddus baked for Lord Ganesha; the winner is thought to get the god’s particular benediction in the form of prasad. For a laddu prasad across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the winning bid was the highest. The Balapur Ganesh laddu, which sold for Rs 24.60 lakh a day earlier, was the second-highest winning bid in the state.
The winning bid for the Balapur laddu was made by a local farmer and realtor, V Laxma Reddy. The laddu brought in 18.90 lakh last year.
This year, the 10-day Ganpati celebration was celebrated with more zeal and grandeur because the previous two years had been marred by COVID-related limitations. Last week, immersion processions took place all around the nation as the festival’s grand finale. According to the reports, more than 35,000 police officers were stationed at the three police stations of Hyderabad, Cyberabad, and Rachakonda to ensure the event was run smoothly.
Even as several Ganesh Mandal processions continued on Friday night in Mumbai alone, more than 19,000 Ganesh idols were submerged.