Tirupati Laddu To Get GI Status

The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), that manages the very old hill temple, has made application to the Registry of Geographical Indications (GI), Chennai for its famous and tasty laddu and is now waiting for patent rights. Laddus were introduced by the temple eight decades ago and some 1.5 lakh laddus are made every day at the temple. The Laddus weigh 100gm and are prepared by the archakas (hereditary temple priests) in the potu (kitchen) of the temple in keeping with a tradition which is supposed to be 200 to 300 years old. A super-sized variety called Kalyana laddu weighs 500gm. A national-level experts committee cleared the application for geographical indication. V. Natarajan, assistant registrar at the GI Registry, said 'the Devasthanam application would be taken up soon and the process would be completed by August'.