No Andhra laddoos for Telangana's iconic Ganesha

Even Gods fall victim to the bitter, blood feud between Andhra and Telangana

 

Hyderabad's tallest, the 58-feet Khairatabad Ganesha has traditionally been offered the Tapeswaram laddoo. Not anymore, because Tapeswaram being a small village in Andhra's East Godavari district is not kosher enough for the Gods of Telangana. Instead, He will be offered 'Telangana laddoo'.

 

The organisers of Khairatabad Ganesha Festival, have in principle decided  to discontinue the practice of  offering as prasadam, something that is made in Andhra.

 

The tradition of offering Tapeswaram laddoo began in 2010 when a popular and authentic Andhra sweet producer Suruchi Foods became the chief prasadam supplier for the Khairatabad Ganesha. That year a 500 kg laddoo was offered. Suruchi Foods went on increasing the weight in subsequent years, which finally touched the 6000 kg mark in 2015.

“This laddoo was not prepared on demand. We started offering it voluntarily.  Last year we spent about ₹15 lakh on the laddoo. Cost has never been a concern for us. We always offered the prasadam with devotion,” Mallibabu, the proprietor of Suruchi Foods told Asianet Newsable.

 

He added that the Ganesha Utsav Committee has not  they had not been informed of the decision yet by the Khairatabad Ganesh Utsava Samiti (KGUS). “Normally, the decision will be taken on the day when the size of the statue is decided. Defending upon the size of the palm of Lord Ganesha, we calculate the size of the laddoo to be produced for the festival. This time, they did not inform the date of Karra Puja, for commencement of the work on the statue building,” Mallibabu said. He would presently rush to Hyderabad to discuss this weighty matter.

 

Emphasizing that this year’s laddoo should be native to Telangana, Sudarshan, one of the festival organisers said that distributing a prasadam made in neighbouring state had kicked up a row last year. "We will soon identify a true-blue Telangana laddoo maker,” he said.

 

Running down Andhra food and promoting Telangana delicacies has been an important aspect of the Telangana movement since 1969. While the 1969 Telangana movement targeted the idli-sambar culture, the ire of Telangana-ites has now moved on to 'curry points'--the roadside joints run predominantly by people of Andhra origin that serve up typical Andhra items such as gongura chicken or gutti vankaya, a spicy brinjal gravy.

In the recent past Andhra culinary culture has invaded every nook and corner of Hyderabad city.Swagruha (tiny establishments selling homemade comestibles) and 'curry points' dot every Hyderabad street.

 

Their ubiquitous presence had irritated Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao so much in those statehood agitation-days that he used to heckle Andhra leaders by making mocking references to 'curry points'. When the then united Andhra CM Kirankumar Reddy launched a counter offensive against TRS by stating that all Andhraites would be driven out of Telangana once separate state is formed, KCR reassured Reddy that he could continue to live in Telangana and can even start a 'curry point'.

 

The Khairatabad Ganesh Utsava Samiti’s decision to do away with the practice of offering Andhra laddoo to Lord Ganesha should be seen against this backdrop of pent up opposition to Andhra domination in the food business.

 

 

With the migration of Andhraites into Hyderabad, with their spirit of enterprise, they turned food and catering into an organised multi-crore business. G Pulla Reddy of the eponymous and hugely popular Pulla Reddy Sweets was the pioneer.

 

Now, one can see the proliferation of Telangana sweet shops, started mainly by the Reddys of the new state who were once trained in establishments such as Pulla Reddy Sweets. The introduction of Telangana laddoo in Khairatabad Ganesh Festival is seen as an attempt to give Telangana sweet traders an opportunity to promote their brand with the blessings of Lord Ganesha.