Why The famous Tirupati laddu

Hyderabad: The famous Tirupati laddu will soon get a geographical indication (GI) tag, making it arguably the first offering at a place of worship anywhere in the world to be recognized as an intellectual property (IP)—in this case, of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), a trust that manages the temple at Tirupati.An expert panel appointed by the Registrar of Geographical Indications met at the temple last month to examine the merits of the application and has recommended granting the GI tag to the Tirupati laddu, two persons familiar with the developments said. Neither of them wanted to be named ahead of an announcement to the effect.TTD had sought the GI tag for the laddu under the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999, after failing to curb sale of counterfeit versions by hawkers seeking to exploit the growing demand from visitors to the temple.The GI status is granted to identify a product as having a specific provenance, and with a certain quality or reputation associated with that origin. Kashmir pashmina, Darjeeling tea and Kancheepuram silk have all been granted GIs. Sweet prospects: A pair of Tirupati laddus. The GI status is granted to identify a product as having a specific provenance, and with a certain quality or reputation associated with that origin.This year has seen a rapid rise in the number of GI registrations. Between September 2003, when the Act came into effect, and April, 61 GIs were registered; since then 21 more have been registered. Of the total, 31 have been granted to handicrafts, 24 to textiles and textile products, six to horticultural and agricultural products, four to painting styles, and two each to tea and coffee.The laddu, made from flour, sugar, ghee (clarified butter), oil, cardamom and dry fruits is sought after by those visiting the temple located in the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh.Archakas, or hereditary priests, in the temple’s kitchen prepare around 50 million laddus every year for around 25 million visitors to the temple. TTD distributes one laddu to each visitor free of charge and sells them at Rs5 apiece.TTD, which approved an annual budget of Rs1,925 crore for 2008-09, had earmarked Rs60 crore for making laddusthis fiscal year, while projecting a revenue of Rs40 crore from their sale. The temple trust is among the richest religious establishments in the country.Fake laddusHawkers in Tirupati have been selling fake laddus and after several futile attempts to curb this practice, including repeated raids by its security and vigilance wings, TTD finally decided to seek legal protection for its laddu. The GI Act imposes a penalty of Rs50,000 along with six months of imprisonment for people infringing a GI.Claiming that its laddu is unique in quality and reputation, TTD submitted details to the GI registrar.