[ 7 Sep, 2006 0224hrs IST TIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
HYDERABAD: A Ganesha laddu at Tummuluru village in the "happening" Maheshwaram mandal was reportedly bought for a record Rs 9.01 lakh in an auction on Wednesday.
Most of those who bought the laddus for huge amounts are real estate dealers and farmers who made it big by selling their land after prices hit the roof when several projects landed in Ranga Reddy district.
There are reports that in Maheshwaram another laddu was auctioned for Rs 7.22 lakh while at other places in the mandal also laddus were sold for lakhs of rupees.
The Ganesha laddu auction at Badangpeta at Saroornagar on the city outskirts also fetched a whopping Rs 6.25 lakh. In all this is hidden the tale of prosperity of people on the city outskirts, thanks to the fast-paced development there.
With projects such as the outer ring road, Shamshabad airport and Fab City coming up, real estate prices have rocketed skywards turning landowners into crorepatis overnight.
In the last several years, the only talked about laddu has been the Balapur laddu, the auction of which is watched keenly. The main Ganesha nimmajan day starts at Balapur beyond the Old City every year.
Even this year, the Balapur laddu weighing 21 kilos fetched a record price of Rs 3 lakh. But this paled in comparison to the price laddus fetched at Ganesha pandals on the city periphery.
It's believed that these laddus bought in auctions from Ganesha pandals can bring good fortune to the family, village and even improve the fertility of farmland.
The weight of laddus vary from pandal to pandal but the price is not fixed according to the weight. A laddu weighing 111 kilos could fetch only Rs 25,000 in an auction at Secunderabad.
One had never heard so much of the auction at Saroornagar before but this time, a laddu fetched Rs 6.25 lakh.
In the auction in which 12 people participated, the winner was Peddabavi Parvathamma, whose family reportedly owns considerable land in Badangpeta village.
The auction was organised by the Veeranjaneya Bhaktha Samajam. Last year, the laddu was sold for Rs 1.5 lakh. While at the auction at Nammeta in Chevella in neighbouring Ranga Reddy district, the laddu fetched Rs 5.11 lakh.
In another auction at Maheshwaram, which is near the proposed Fab City, the laddu fetched Rs 4 lakh. The auction of laddus on the city periphery began only in recent times after the attention the Balapur auction got.
When it was conducted for the first time in 1994, the Balapur laddu fetched Rs 8,000. In 2003, it got as much as Rs 1.55 lakh and in 2004, it fetched Rs 2.01 lakh.
In 2005, the laddu was sold for Rs 2.08 lakh to the village sarpanch Ibrahim Sekhar. This year the laddu weighing 21 kg was bought by Chiruginti Tirupati Reddy for Rs 3 lakh.
Reddy, who is a farmer and real-estate dealer said he bought the laddu because money was not an issue for him. "Moreover, the sprinkling of the laddu in the fields results in a good yield," he claimed.
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