PTI

Tirupati, Jun 9: The sacred laddu 'prasadam', popularly known as 'Tirupati Laddu' at the famous hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala near here, would soon get patent rights under Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, temple sources said.

The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), which manages the ancient hill temple, has applied for the patent and is awaiting the patent rights for the Laddu, temple sources told PTI.

Due to heavy demand for the most sought after 'Tirupati Laddus' here, some hawkers in the temple town have started minting money by preparing and selling laddus at their own premises and selling them to a large number of innocent devotees under the name of 'Tirupati Laddus' in a big way, the sources said.

The practice has been flourishing for the past many years, they said adding TTD Security and Vigilance wing have conducted several raids to root out the business but in vain. Once the GI tag is granted for Tirupati Laddu, such violators can be booked and sent to jail, the sources said.

The sources said the famous Tirupati laddu was introduced at the hill temple some eight decades ago. It then weighed about 500 grams and priced at one anna (six paise).

Later in the 1960s, the weight was reduced to 180 grams and was sold it for Rs one. The price was hiked to Rs 4 in the 80S and to Rs 10 in 1998. It was increased to Rs 25 in 2006, the sources said.

Over 25 million laddus are prepared annually at India's richest hill temple which is being thronged by about 20 million devotees from all over the country and abroad every year, the sources said.