The famous Balapur(Hydearabad) Ganesh Laddu has been bagged by one Kallem Madanmohan Reddy in auction for Rs 10.32 lakh, Rs 82,000 higher than the previous rate. The laddu auctioned around 11.30 am. Last year the Laddu was cornered by Singireddy Jayender Reddy for Rs 9.50 lakh. Today, after fierce competetion among Koreti Srinivas Reddy, Rami Reddy and Madanmohan Reddy, Madanmohan Reddy won the auction. In 2013 Teegela Krishna Reddy won bid by quoting Rs 9.26 lakh. The laddu will be sprinkled in agricultural fields with the belief that Lord Ganesha would shower his blessings.
Believed to be sacred for the winner, the Balapur Laddu has been the centre of attraction for the past two decades during Ganesh festival. The popularity of Laddu strengthened after 2013, when the winner of last year’s auction and former Mayor of Hyderabad Teegala Krishna Reddy had successfully won the recent Assembly elections in 2014. He tested his luck in 2014 too. but couldn’t manage to repeat the history. The Balapur Ganesh Utsav Committee said that the money from the auction will be spent on various developmental activities in the village. Balapur Ganesh has a distinction in many counts. Balapur Ganesh was the first to acquire permissions regarding the immersion in Hussain Sagar in 1980. From 1980, Balapur Ganesh is being immersed in Tank Bund of Hyderabad, and is aptly given the name “PRARAMBA GRAMA VINAYAKUDU” – ‘The idol which commences the main Ganesh immersion procession in Hyderabad’.
According to Balapur Ganesh Utsava Samiti, from 1980 to 1982, the Balapur Ganesh immersion festival ended peacefully but in the year 1983, it has undergone some communal disputes creating fear in the minds of the people of Hyderabad regarding religious festivals. Not wanting to break the tradition of the festival, the Ganesh Mandap was setup by the Ganesh Utsav Samithi in 1984, following the curfew in 1983. But this time around, the Hyderabad Police provided the village with huge security force with numbers reaching to 400 in number (Speacial ops – Rapid Action Force). And every year, this seems to be increasing proportionately as the number of people visiting the village is increasing.
These features led to the awarding of another name to Balapur Ganesha “ADHI VINAYAKA”.
The auctioning of the Laddu began in 1994 with the first winner Kollan Mohan Reddy winning the auction at Rs. 450.00. This tradition continued year after year, and once the auction began reaching thousands, the initial bid amount was set to Rs. 1,116.00 by the Balapur Ganesh Utsava Samithi.
This first auctioning in Balapur led to the ‘Laddu Bidding’ becoming a mandatory procedure in every Ganesh Mandap nationwide.
