In Hyderabad, the famous Khairatabad Ganesha idol reaches a towering 70-ft height, up from 63 feet last year
As the fervour of celebrations for Ganesh Chaturthi sweeps across different parts of the country, a heritage sweets maker in the Bhowanipore area of Kolkata, West Bengal has done what it always does differently, create something special. This time they thought up and prepared a massive 500-kilogram laddoo to celebrate the festival.
According to The Telegraph, Sudip Mullick, the owner of the nearly century-and-a-half-old Bengali sweet shop Balaram Mullick and Radharaman Mullick (or simply Balaram’s, incepted in 1885), on Saturday proudly presented a 500-kg laddoo decorated with myriad kinds of dry fruits and kaju barfis. A small idol of Ganesh finds pride of place atop the giant sweet.
The so-called ‘biggest laddoo’, up for sale, priced at Rs 1 lakh, has become a big attraction for visitors to the busy shop, famous for its classical Bengali sweet offerings like Korapak and Nolen Gur (Guli Sandesh).
70-ft Lord Ganesha idol unveiled in Hyderabad
Meanwhile the famous Khairatabad Ganesha idol in Hyderabad this year is a towering 70-feet tall, up from 63 feet last year, to commemorate 70 years since its organisers, the Sri Ganesh Utsav Committee (SGUC), Khairatabad, first installed a one-foot idol in 1954.
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Since then, every year the committee has been raising the height of the idol. This year, at 70 feet, the Ganesha idol is claimed to the highest Ganesha idol in Telangana, if not in the country.
This year’s idol, called Saptamukha Maha Shakti Ganapati, has seven faces, seven snake canopy and 14 hands. Organisers have tried to keep it as ecofriendly as possible, with 25 tonnes inner core of steel and the rest of the idol made from 35 tonnes of clay mixed with straw, rice husk and other ingredients.