Hyderabad:
Despite little signs of the recession easing, sentiment seems to have played a major role at Ganesh laddu auctions this year.
A laddu weighing about 36kg set the record this year with organisers raking in Rs 12.15 lakh in an open auction in Ameerpet. The chief executive officer of a private real estate firm (Viswas Real Estates & Infrastructures India Ltd, Habsiguda crossroads), G Eswar Rao, bagged the laddu at the auction held on Saturday evening, just before the Ganesh idol was taken for immersion.
The Ameerpet laddu has thus fetched Rs 3.05 lakh more than what it did last year. Another real estate firm, VVR Housing Pvt Ltd, had bought the laddu for Rs 9.10 lakh last year. “The increase in the auction amount will allow us to give scholarships to meritorious students through the VVR Foundation (Mee Kosam) in the state,” Eswar Rao told TOI.
Meanwhile, the famous Balapur Ganesh laddu also set a new record at this year’s auction. The laddu, weighing 21kg, has fetched the organisers Rs 7.50 lakh at the auction held in the village which lies in the neighbouring Rangareddy district. The successful bidder here was P Govardhan Reddy, who hails from the same village. This year the auction fetched Rs 2.05 lakh more than last year. In 2011, Kolan brothers of Balapur village had cornered the laddu for Rs 5.45 lakh.
The auction started at around 9.45am with 23 persons participating in the bidding for the prized laddu. Given the number of participants, the bids crossed last year’s mark within a few minutes. After a keen contest, 45-year-old Govardhan Reddy, a realtor, quoted Rs 7.50 lakh and became the successful bidder. Incidentally, he is former Balapur sarpanch P Narasimha Reddy’s eldest son.
“Today, I fulfilled my father’s last wish. My father passed away two years back. His last wish was had been to get the Balapur Ganesh laddu home,” Goverdhan Reddy, who worked in Ireland before returning to the city two years back, told the media.
An almirah maker, G Narasimha, bought the Badangpet Ganesh laddu for Rs 6.55 lakh. This is the fourth time that Narasimha has bagged the laddu in the auction. This year, he bought the laddu after paying Rs 35,000 over last year’s successful bid. “It is my sentiment to buy the Badangpet laddu as I believe that it is Lord Ganesh’s blessings which have made my business prosper,” he said.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Home> City> Hyderabad / TNN, September 30th, 2012