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IN PICS: A 2,200 Kg laddu for this 52 ft Ganesha!

Last updated on: September 1, 2011 18:59 IST
A crane being used to offer the gargaunt laddu to the idol

A sweetmaker from Tappeswaram in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh has offered a huge 'laddu' weighing over 2,000 kilogram to the 52-feet tall Ganesh idol at Khairatabad.

"The 2,200-kg laddu contains 150 kg dry fruits, 250 kg ghee,600 kg sugar and 400 kg of Chana dal. Prepared completely with Ghee it will remain fresh for a month,"  Mallikarjuna Rao Head of Suruchi Foods, Tappeswaram told mediapersons.

He said the expenditure for this laddu, which is to be placed on the hands of the Lord, was around Rs 4 lakh.

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IN PICS: A 2,200 Kg laddu for this 52 ft Ganesha!

Last updated on: September 1, 2011 18:59 IST
Thousands of devotees gathered to watch the ceremony

The laddu was brought from Tappeswaram in a separate vehicle in a procession and reached Hyderabad yesterday, where it was handed over to the Ganesh Utsava Samithi, Khairtabad.

The idol installed at Khairatabad is famous for its size and attracts thousands of devotees during the nine-day festivities. Governor E S L Narasimhan and his wife visited this Vinayaka idol and sought his blessings.

State Labour Minister D Nagender, who is local MLA, and several other leaders were present on the occasion.  Ganesh Chaturthi was celebrated with traditional fervour

across Andhra Pradesh on Thursday with devotees ushering in the elephant-headed God at homes and  thousands of pandals set up across the state.

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IN PICS: A 2,200 Kg laddu for this 52 ft Ganesha!

Last updated on: September 1, 2011 18:59 IST
The 52-ft idol in its full glory

Dressed in traditional attire, people performed 'Vinayaka Chavithi' puja at home and also visited temples in the morning to offer special prayers. About 50,000 Ganesh pandals are set up every year in Hyderabad alone.

However, a 94-feet tall Ganesh idol, claiming to be the tallest in the country, was installed in Visakhapatnam at AS Raja Grounds in MVP Colony at a cost of Rs 40 lakh.      

The organisers there also offered a huge laddu costing Rs 6 lakh to the idol. Another 85 feet-tall idol prepared by Gajuwaka based developers using pure clay from Ganga river, coconut ropes and dried rice grass was installed at the port city.

The nine-day-long festivities would end with the immersion of the idols in water bodies. Majority of the idols are immersed in the Hussain Sagar in Hyderabad.