Devotees queue up for Tirupati laddu at subsidised price

Hyderabad: The Tirumala Tirupati Devsathanams (TTD) information centre at Himayat Nagar witnessed a long queue of devotees waiting for the famous Tirupati laddu on May 31. The Tirupati laddu, which is usually sold at Lord Balaji temple in Tirumala, has been made available at subsidised rates in Hyderabad since May 31, amid the Covid-19 lockdown. Devotees thronged the TTD Kalyana Mandapam at Himayat Nagar to claim their share of the god’s laddu on Sunday.

According to an official from the TTD, the temple board had sent several trucks, with around 60,000 laddus to Hyderabad for sale, after receiving permission from the Telangana state government.

“The laddu, which usually costs Rs 50, would be sold at Rs 25 as a token of gift to devotees during the Covid-19 lockdown period,” the TTD official told PTI.

Earlier, the TTD had planned to sell the laddus at a subsidised rate in cities such as Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai. On a trial basis, this subsidised sale was carried out in Andhra Pradesh on May 25, and by the end of the day, a total of about 12 lakh laddus were sold there, the TTD official confirmed.

In Andhra Pradesh, the TTD is selling the laddus in its marriage halls and at the information centres at the headquarters of all districts in the state. Meanwhile, the temple board is awaiting permission from the Karnataka and Tamil Nadu state governments to go for sale in Bengaluru and Chennai.

The 2,000-year-old Tirumala temple was closed for devotees since March 25, owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.