Tirupati Laddu or SriVari Laddu is the

laddu ''Laddu'' or ''laddoo'' (; ms, kuih laddu; id, kue laddu) is a spherical sweet originating from India and spread through the Indian subcontinent and the Malay world. Laddus are primarily made from flour, fat (ghee/butter/oil) and sugar or ...

sweet offered as

Naivedhya 200px, Prasad thaal offered to Swaminarayan temple in Ahmedabad ">Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Ahmedabad">Swaminarayan temple in Ahmedabad Prasada (, Sanskrit: प्रसाद, ), Prasadam or Prasad is a religious offering in Hinduism. Most ...

m to

Venkateswara Venkateswara, also known by various other names, is a form of the Hinduism, Hindu god Vishnu. Venkateswara is the presiding deity of the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple, located in Tirupati, Sri Balaji District, Andhra Pradesh, India. Etymology ...

Tirumala Venkateswara Temple Sri Venkateswara Swami Vaari Temple is a Hindu temple situated in the hill town of Tirumala at Tirupati in Tirupati district of Andhra Pradesh, India. The Temple is dedicated to Venkateswara, a form of Vishnu, who is believed to have appeared ...

Tirupati Tirupati () is a city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of the Tirupati district. The city is home to the important Hindu shrine of Tirumala Venkateswara Temple and other historic temples and is refe ...

Tirupati district Tirupati district () is one of the twenty-six districts in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and one of the eight districts in the Rayalaseema region of the Andhra Pradesh state. The district headquarters is located at Tirupati city. Tirupat ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

, India. The laddu is given as

prasad 200px, Prasad thaal offered to Swaminarayan temple in Ahmedabad ">Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Ahmedabad">Swaminarayan temple in Ahmedabad Prasada (, Sanskrit: प्रसाद, ), Prasadam or Prasad is a religious offering in Hinduism. Most o ...

am to devotees after having the darshan in the temple. The laddu prasadam is prepared within the temple kitchen known as 'Potu' by the temple board

Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) is an independent trust which manages the temples including the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple in Andhra Pradesh. The trust oversees the operations and finances of the richest and the most visited religious cent ...

. Tirupati Laddu received

Geographical indication A geographical indication (GI) is a name or sign used on products which corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin (e.g., a town, region, or country). The use of a geographical indication, as an indication of the product's source, ...

tag which entitles that only

can make and sell it.

History

The practice of offering laddu to Venkateswara at

started on 2 August 1715.

Geographical indication tag

To prevent black marketing of Tirupati Laddus, in 2008, the

registered for a

geographical indication A geographical indication (GI) is a name or sign used on products which corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin (e.g., a town, region, or country). The use of a geographical indication, as an indication of the product's source, ...

tag. In 2009, it obtained patent rights to Tirupati Laddus under the category foodstuff under the GI Act 1999. This has prevented others from preparing or naming the sweet with same name.

Laddu Potu

Laddu Potu is the kitchen where Tirupati Laddus are prepared. It lies inside the Sampangi pradakshinam of the temple. The Potu is equipped with three conveyor belts used for carrying ingredients into the potu and finished Laddus to the selling counters from Potu. Out of three conveyor belts the first one installed during 2007 can transfer only laddus and the second installed in the year 2010 can transfer both laddus and boondi. The third conveyor belt was installed in 2014 as a backup for the two conveyor belts should they malfunction. In olden days only fire wood was used to cook laddus, which was replaced by LPG in the year 1984.

prepare an average of 2.8 lakh laddus a day in Laddu potu. At present, the potu has a capacity to make 800,000 a day.

Dittam

Dittam is the list of ingredients and its proportions used in making of Tirupati Laddu. To meet the increasing demand for laddus, changes were made to Dittam six times in its history. At present the ingredients include

Gram flour Gram flour or kadala maavu is a pulse flour made from a variety of ground chickpea called Bengal gram or ''kaala chana''. It is a staple ingredient in the cuisine of the Indian subcontinent, including in Indian, Bangladeshi, Burmese, Nepali, ...

cashew The cashew tree (''Anacardium occidentale'') is a tropical evergreen tree native to South America in the genus ''Anacardium'' that produces the cashew seed and the cashew apple accessory fruit. The tree can grow as tall as , but the dwarf cult ...

nuts,

cardamom Cardamom (), sometimes cardamon or cardamum, is a spice made from the seeds of several plants in the genera ''Elettaria'' and ''Amomum'' in the family Zingiberaceae. Both genera are native to the Indian subcontinent and Indonesia. They are rec ...

ghee Ghee is a type of clarified butter, originating from India. It is commonly used in India for cooking, as a traditional medicine, and for religious rituals. Description Ghee is typically prepared by simmering butter, which is churned from c ...

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

sugar candy Sugar candy is any candy whose primary ingredient is sugar. The main types of sugar candies are hard candies, fondants, Caramel, caramels, jellies, and Nougat, nougats. In British English, this broad category of sugar candies is called ''swe ...

and

raisin A raisin is a dried grape. Raisins are produced in many regions of the world and may be eaten raw or used in cooking, baking, and brewing. In the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia, the word ''raisin'' is reserved for the d ...

s. Per day it uses about 10 tonnes of Gram flour, 10 tonnes of sugar, 700 kg of cashew nuts, 150 kg of cardamom, 300 to 500 litres of ghee, 500 kg of sugar candy and 540 kg of raisins used to prepare laddu. TTD procures all these based on tenders on yearly basis.

Potu karmikulu

Around 620 cooks work in the laddu potu to make laddus. These workers are referred to as ''potu karmikulu''. Around 150 Potu Workers are regular employees, while more than 350 work on Contract Basis. 247 are chef out of 620.

Tirupati Laddu variations

Proktham Laddu

This laddu is regularly distributed to all the common pilgrims visiting the temple. It is small in size and weighs 175 grams. These laddus are prepared in large numbers.

Asthanam Laddu

This laddu is prepared only on special festive occasions. It is large in size and weighs 750 grams. It is prepared with more cashews, almonds and saffron strands.

Kalyanotsavam Laddu

This laddu is distributed to devotees who participate in Kalyanotsavam and in a few of Arjitha sevas. There is huge demand for these laddus. These are prepared in very few numbers when compared to the Proktham Laddu. Shelf Life of the laddu is about to 15 days with the advanced packaging system implemented by TTD.

Reference

External links

* {{Tirupati topics Tirumala Venkateswara Temple Religious food and drink Tirupati Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams Geographical indications in Andhra Pradesh