Laddu loyalty: Tirupati prasadam demand beats adulteration politics
So high is the demand that TTD has had to address complaints from devotees about a laddu scarcity; a stringent crackdown on illegal sales is on
Just months ago, a bitter controversy raged over the use of ghee adulterated with beef tallow in the famed Tirupati laddu.
Did it put devotees off the famous prasadam (sacred food offering)? No. On the contrary, the demand for Tirupati laddus has only shot up since then.
Three months after the controversy and following the Supreme Court’s caustic remarks not to politicise the temple prasadam and the reforms initiated by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), the Tirupati laddu is going places.
It appears that in the eyes of lakhs of devotees, despite the national uproar over the alleged adulteration, the most sought-after prasadam of Lord Venkateswara has not lost its sanctity. It has emerged from all the national TV news bombardment completely unscathed.
Surge in demand
Even during the week when Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu first spoke of the alleged use of adulterated ghee, in September 2024, devotees did not shy away from buying the laddu. Collecting laddus after a darshan of the deity is par for course, and devotees were in no mood to break the tradition.
Also read: SIT initiates probe into Tirupati laddu adulteration allegations
Over months, amid an SIT probe into the ghee adulteration allegation, the demand for the laddu has only spiked. So much so that the TTD has had to increase the production of small and big laddus by 50,000 and 4,000 a day, respectively. It was also decided that the number of vadas, another important component of Tirumala prasadam, will go up by 3,500 a day.
So high is the demand that the TTD has had to address complaints from devotees about a laddu scarcity. Illegal sales have become rampant.
Before the 1990s, complaints about the illegal sale of laddus were unheard of. Raghava Sarma, a writer and resident of Tirupati, said he had never heard of any illegal sale or wholesale black marketing of laddus earlier.
“The laddu was considered sacred. People never resorted to acquiring it through devious means. At least no such malpractice had ever been reported,” Sarma told The Federal.
Watch: Chandrababu Naidu's Laddu attack way off mark, backfired spectacularly
Laddu in politics
It's through political leaders, especially Naidu, that the Tirupati laddu acquired a political status. As Chief Minister in his earlier stint, Naidu used to present laddus, along with a portrait of Lord Balaji and a sesha vastram (ceremonial cloth) to Supreme Court judges and VVIPs, during his visits to Delhi.
As recently as 2015, he offered the sacred laddu to Shinze Abe, then Prime Minister of Japan, during his visit to Tokyo to seek Japan’s support in building Amaravati, a new capital city for Andhra Pradesh.
All politicians started emulating Naidu, which triggered a great demand for laddus. It became highly sought after by the rich and politically influential, who started trying to get it ‘illegally’.
Black market crackdown
How the Tirumala laddu black market flourished was revealed by none other than J Syamal Rao, executive officer (EO) of the TTD, in the first week of September 2024, well before the adulteration controversy broke out.
The first thing Syamal Rao, a 1997 batch IAS officer, did upon assuming office as EO in June, was to crack down on illegal laddu trade. He did that after complaints poured in that ordinary pilgrims, who often waited in serpentine queues for more than 24 hours for a few seconds’ darshan of Lord Balaji, were not getting laddus.
Also read: Tirupati laddu row: TDP ready for central agency probe, YSRCP slams 'heinous' publicity
Syamal Rao, who is known for popularising the generic medical shops in united Andhra Pradesh when he was Vizag collector, first, and MD of AP Medical Infrastructure Development Corporation later, was originally an Assam cadre IAS officer.
He found some anomaly in his cadre allocation and fought for the reallocation to his home state, Andhra Pradesh. He fought the case up to the Supreme Court and got a cadre change. The then chief minister YS Rajasekhar Reddy liked his fighting spirit and appointed him as the collector of Vizag, a prestigious district.
Shocking facts
Once he came to power, Naidu appointed Syamal Ras as the EO of TTD, in June 2024, much to the surprise of many influential officers.
After taking over as EO, Syamal Rao instituted an inquiry into the sale of laddus at TTD counters and discovered some shocking truths. He told the media that some people cornered thousands of laddus and distributed them in marriage functions as routine sweets.
According to Syamal Rao, out of 3.5 lakh laddus produced every day, around 1 lakh were being purchased by people without darshan tokens.
“We noticed that a few middlemen were carrying laddus in several bags. Per policy, laddus should be given one each to the pilgrims who have darshan tokens. If they want more, they can buy a limited number at ₹50 each. But, we found that many people who had no darshan tickets were buying these laddus in huge numbers and selling them in the black market,” he told the media in September, a fortnight before the adulteration controversy rocked the nation.
Watch | The Tirupati conundrum: Can ‘God's money’ be spent on meeting people's needs?
On the lines of how he popularised generic medical shops across the state to make medicines available at cheaper rates for the poor, he wanted ordinary devotees to return home blessed with one free laddu and more laddus at standard prices.
He linked the sale of laddus with Aadhaar cards to eliminate middlemen and to make laddus available to every ordinary pilgrim. This decision increased the sale of laddus not only in Tirumala and Tirupati but also at TTD centres in Hyderabad, Chennai and Bengaluru.
The TTD has now decided to increase the production of laddus by recruiting more potu (kitchen) workers to meet the demand.
Laddu production
Laddu production has always been a profitable business for the TTD.
At present, the temple board produces 3.5 lakh small laddus (costing ₹50 each), 6,000 big laddus (₹200 each) and 3,500 vadas (₹100 each). The cost of making these prasadams are ₹8.07 crore per day, if you take into account the wages of workers, provisions, gas and fuel.
The sale of laddus is generating a revenue of ₹11.16 crore, resulting in profits up to ₹3.09 crore. Currently, 616 potu workers (of which 415 are Vaishnavas) are employed in laddu production. The decision to increase production has necessitated the fresh recruitment of potu workers.
According to TTD officials, as many as 84 workers (74 Vaishnavas and 10 non-Vaishnavas) will be recruited on an outsourcing basis.
As per the proposal approved by the TTD chairman on November 18, a potu worker can produce 700 small laddus, 330 big laddus and 120 vadas per day. With an additional 84 workers, the total production of small laddus will exceed 4 lakh per day, big laddus 10,000 and vadas 7,000.
