180-kg sweet offering for Vinayaka

HYDERABAD: Vats of piping hot ‘boondi’ line the floor of the ramshackle kitchen as more makes it way out of the sizzling cauldron. Preparations are in full swing at the Diamond Sweet House for making a 180-kg laddu, on the eve of Vinayak Chaturthi. Probably the largest laddu placed in palm of the deity, proprietor Mohammed Muazzam Ali proudly upholds the 10-year-old tradition.“The preparations start four days in advance and require 10 to 12 hours of dedicated labour by four persons to finish on time,” says Muazzam Ali. The laddu requires 40-kg besan, a quintal of sugar and almost 2 kg dry fruits. An annual feature at the Sri Ganesha Pooja Mandali of Vijaya Nagar Colony, it has sparked off competition among other committees to outdo each other. “None of the other pujas in the city can boast of such a large laddu,” declares Ganesh Singh, Vijaya Nagar Colony organising committee member.Despite renovation works at the sweet shop and Eid celebrations, the laddu which weighs close to 2 quintals along with the steel plate it is placed on, will be completed by Thursday. “We are concentrating on completing the laddu and open our shop only after the offering for Ganesha is ready,” says Muazzam Ali.  The signature laddus are also bought by other Ganesha pooja committees in the locality. As per requirements of the customers, laddus come in sizes of 50 grams, 2 kg, 5 kg and 10 kg. Over the last decade, demand for jumbo-sized laddus has increased, observes Muazzam Ali who inherited the business from his father. The laddu has been growing bigger over the years from its humble beginning of 51 kg. The estimated cost of the this year’s laddu is `20,000.The process of preparation is unique and carried out in steps to prevent the sweet from disintegrating. After being decorated with dry fruits and silver foil, the laddu is taken out with help of 10 to 15 bearers and loaded onto a vehicle which takes it to the Ganesha temple nearby for blessing the offering. The day after ‘nimmajan’, it is distributed as prasad among residents of the locality. To hold the heavy-weight laddu, the idol is specially constructed by craftsmen in Dhoolpet.