Artificial laddu at Khairatabad pandal

Hyderabad: The 58-foot Khairatabad Ganesh, the tallest in the city, will hold an artificial laddu this year, something that has never happened in recent years. 

The laddu will be given as prasadam on the day after the immersion, but the crowds that gather on this day are so huge that the organisers fear another stampede.   

Since 2010, the 58-ft Ganesha has got the jumbo laddu from East Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh. P.V.V.S Mallikharjuna Rao, popular known as Malli Babu, owner of Suruchi Foods in Tapeswaram, provides the mega laddu free of cost. 

Raj Kumar, a member of the Khairatabad Ganesh Utsav Committee, said, “Every year, when prasadam is distributed, thousands throng the Khairatabad Ganesh site. The last three years it has been difficult to control the crowds. In 2015 there was a stampede. Also, the transportation of the gigantic laddu is difficult. If Malli Babu intends to donate the jumbo laddu this year (which is unconfirmed), it will be placed at Ganesha’s feet.”

The Khairatabad jumbo laddu has the same significance as the Balapur laddu and thousands of devotees gather every year to have ‘laddu prasadam’ amid tight police security. 

In 2015, Malli Babu sponsored a jumbo laddu weighing around 6,000 kg (six tonnes). It was difficult to control the swelling crowd, and the laddu was stolen while being taken to Andhra Pradesh.