Kolanu Shankar Reddy has got the Laddu in auction for 30 lakhs and one thousand rupees today.
The Balapur Ganesh Utsav Samithi (BGUC) has introduced new rules to enhance the auction’s competitiveness. Locals are now required to deposit the previous year’s successful bid amount to participate, a shift from the previous practice of allowing a year to make the payment.
This change has already attracted five new participants and is expected to heighten the competition. Former Minister Sabitha Indra Reddy was the chief guest for the auction program.
The auction will start with a base bid of Rs. 1,116, and with a growing number of participants, there is speculation that the bid could exceed Rs. 30 lakh, potentially even reaching the landmark Rs. 1 crore .
The tradition of auctioning the Balapur laddu began in 1994 when local farmer Kolan Mohan Reddy won it for Rs. 450. This led to a belief that the laddu brings prosperity and health, contributing to its revered status.
The Laddu is not only used as Prasadam, but also used as manure to sprinkle in the fields for good crops. Many of them who sprinkled the Laddu in fields reaped rich dividends. Last year the laddu was sold for around 27 lakhs . Some flat owners associations are also going for the Laddu action with Gahesha Pandals.
The Laddu auction is now popular in small lanes and bylanes also. It goes from thousands to lakhs of rupees and also creates records.
