The 55-ft tall idol of Lord Vinayaka at Khairatabad, considered the lead idol among the thousands that adorn streets of the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad, has received a laddu that befits its size.

On Vinayaka Chaturthi , a giant crane deftly placed the massive 2,400-kg laddu on one of the many hands of the idol. About 1,000 kg of sugar, 360 kg of ghee, 150 kg of dry fruits and eight kg of elaichi (cardamom) were used to make this laddu .

“It took a team of eleven people and two days to prepare the laddu . We spent Rs 4 lakh on this,” Mr P V V S Mallikharjuna Rao, who owns Suruchi Foods, told Business Line , before taking the laddu in a procession to Khairatabad.

Mr Rao had the laddu transported in a truck from Tapeswaram in East Godavari district. “We have gifted it to the Ganesh Utasava Samiti at Khairatabad to be distributed to devotees on the day of nimajjanam. We have taken good care to ensure a shelf life of a few months,” he said.

This was the second successive year for Mr Rao to gift a laddu .

Asked whether he was trying to gun for a Limca or Guinness record, he replied in the negative. “The focus, then, would go on the record and not on the making. I'm not keen on registering a record,” he said.

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