HYDERABAD: The Tirupati laddu, given away as "prasad" at the hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara at Tirupati, has entered its 300th year. Temple officials say the sacred offering was introduced on August 2, 1715.

No pilgrimage to the world's richest Hindu temple is complete without the laddu, made of flour, sugar, ghee, oil, cardamom and dry fruits. The mouthwatering sweet is the most sought after `prasadam' after prayers to Lord Venkateswara. Although the temple offers various types of `prasadam', the laddu is more popular among pilgrims.

According to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), which manages the affairs of the hill shrine, about ninety million laddus were given away to pilgrims in 2014.

The price of a 300-gram laddu is Rs 25. The TTD says that use of quality ingredients makes it costly but it sells laddu at a highly subsidised rate. As a privilege to pilgrims, two laddus are given at a further subsidized rate of Rs 10 each.

The temple authorities issue laddu token to the pilgrims after collecting the money . The sweet is also made in Delhi and some state capitals on special occasions. The sale of `prasadam' is a major source of income for the temple, which had a budget of Rs 2,401 crore for fiscal 2014-15. TTD had projected an income of Rs 190 crore from `prasadam' sale, the same as the income expected from sale of human hair of pilgrims who tonsure their heads. The laddu is in great demand on special occasions.

The authorities sell the `prasadam' round-the-clock during Brahmotsavam. Last year, about 1.8 million laddus were sold in the first seven days of Brahmotsavam, breaking all previous records.

The authorities make elaborate arrangements to ensure uninterrupted supply of laddus to the pilgrims. They have the capacity to produce 300,000 laddus a day but they keep sufficient stocks during Brahmotsavam.

Nearly 620 people, including 270 cooks, work in the laddu and other `pra sadam' making units. The TTD took up modernisation of the temple kitchen last year by installing two escalator belts for laddu and boondi crates.

TTD joint executive officer K S Sree nivasa Raju said that the conveyor systems have the capacity to transfer up to 800,000 laddus every day . The Office of the Registrar of Patents, Trademarks and Geographical Indications in 2014 awarded the Geographical Indication (GI) status to the Tirupati laddu.

TTD officials said they had to enforce GI rights as some small-time traders as well as large businesses involved in making sweets have been using Tirupati tag to sell their laddus. The Madras High Court in 2013 restrained a sweet shop in Chennai from using the brand name "Tirupati laddu". .............

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Tirupati-laddu-turns-300/articleshow/48374601.cms

"tirupati" laddus are telugu so you can't make them in chennai.

although I have to say tambs have a huge rock-like presence in TTD, they're the ones making everything from laddus to vatthulu and the sandal wood paste and kumkum. everywhere you look in ttd, there's a tamb.

oh I know how to make kumkum cuz my grandma used to make it in the village. she'd get these horns of turmeric and add a calcium salt that had a green metallic sheen to it and powder it the traditional way with a mortar and pestle. the mortar was built into the floor of our courtyard and pestle was a long wooden stick, so she'd do this standing up. I would've probably inherited her mortar, pestle, the courtyard and the entire house if I was living in india. I wonder who got all her stuff.

in the evening she'd do a lot of singing - she had a rich, sultry voice that had a certain hoarseness to it lent no doubt by years of sitting near the stove, stoking the fire to do the cooking. if she was living in America, she would have been referred to see a pulm guy. who knows maybe she also had some polyps on her vocal cord from the fumes and pollution. nevertheless, she did have a captivating, soulful voice. even as a child her singing gave my day a texture and caused me to feel so many different emotions. i was otherwise unaware of my surroundings and lived in a dream world of lilliputs, tinkerbell, and rollerblades.

when my grandpa was not cheating on her, they always organized some awesome katcheris  but I never attended as I preferred to be on the daaba eating guavas, gooseberries and sweet mango pickle. did she make it? yes, i'll tell you about it another day. work beckons.

busy grandpa, P.N.? 
Nice of you to think and talk tenderly / sweetly about your grandma.

pravalika nanda wrote:"tirupati" laddus are telugu so you can't make them in chennai.

although I have to say tambs have a huge rock-like presence in TTD, they're the ones making everything from laddus to vatthulu and the sandal wood paste and kumkum. everywhere you look in ttd, there's a tamb.

oh I know how to make kumkum cuz my grandma used to make it in the village. she'd get these horns of turmeric and add a calcium salt that had a green metallic sheen to it and powder it the traditional way with a mortar and pestle. the mortar was built into the floor of our courtyard and pestle was a long wooden stick, so she'd do this standing up. I would've probably inherited her mortar, pestle, the courtyard and the entire house if I was living in india. I wonder who got all her stuff.

in the evening she'd do a lot of singing - she had a rich, sultry voice that had a certain hoarseness to it lent no doubt by years of sitting near the stove, stoking the fire to do the cooking. if she was living in America, she would have been referred to see a pulm guy. who knows maybe she also had some polyps on her vocal cord from the fumes and pollution. nevertheless, she did have a captivating, soulful voice. even as a child her singing gave my day a texture and caused me to feel so many different emotions. i was otherwise unaware of my surroundings and lived in a dream world of lilliputs, tinkerbell, and rollerblades.

when my grandpa was not cheating on her, they always organized some awesome katcheris  but I never attended as I preferred to be on the daaba eating guavas, gooseberries and sweet mango pickle. did she make it? yes, i'll tell you about it another day. work beckons.

Very nice, Ms. Nanda - autobiographical episodes of tender loving memories of grandparents, well structured and written

Aside - the tamb that you refer to - are these the tambrahms?

Seva Lamberdar wrote:busy grandpa, P.N.? 
Nice of you to think and talk tenderly / sweetly about your grandma.

if you took that man and placed him in some Italian countryside, he'd fit right in. the girls were always chasing him. apart from being a physician he dabbled in politics too.

garam_kuta wrote:

pravalika nanda wrote:"tirupati" laddus are telugu so you can't make them in chennai.

although I have to say tambs have a huge rock-like presence in TTD, they're the ones making everything from laddus to vatthulu and the sandal wood paste and kumkum. everywhere you look in ttd, there's a tamb.

oh I know how to make kumkum cuz my grandma used to make it in the village. she'd get these horns of turmeric and add a calcium salt that had a green metallic sheen to it and powder it the traditional way with a mortar and pestle. the mortar was built into the floor of our courtyard and pestle was a long wooden stick, so she'd do this standing up. I would've probably inherited her mortar, pestle, the courtyard and the entire house if I was living in india. I wonder who got all her stuff.

in the evening she'd do a lot of singing - she had a rich, sultry voice that had a certain hoarseness to it lent no doubt by years of sitting near the stove, stoking the fire to do the cooking. if she was living in America, she would have been referred to see a pulm guy. who knows maybe she also had some polyps on her vocal cord from the fumes and pollution. nevertheless, she did have a captivating, soulful voice. even as a child her singing gave my day a texture and caused me to feel so many different emotions. i was otherwise unaware of my surroundings and lived in a dream world of lilliputs, tinkerbell, and rollerblades.

when my grandpa was not cheating on her, they always organized some awesome katcheris  but I never attended as I preferred to be on the daaba eating guavas, gooseberries and sweet mango pickle. did she make it? yes, i'll tell you about it another day. work beckons.

Very nice, Ms. Nanda - autobiographical episodes of tender loving memories of grandparents, well structured and written

Aside - the tamb that you refer to - are these the tambrahms?

Yes.