The Hindu : National : Tirumala laddus get Geographical Indication certification

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Tirumala laddus get Geographical Indication certification

Special Correspondent

TIRUPATI: The famous and delicious ‘Tirumala laddu’ has been granted the GI (Geographical Indication) certification, according to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Trust Board.

The TTD Sources on Tuesday expressed its ‘immense pleasure’ over the geographical copyright granted to the ‘Tirumala laddu.’

The conferment of the copy right would ban others from making and marketing the ‘Tirumala laddus’ under the same name. It may be recalled that the TTD had applied last year with a Chennai-based Geographical Indication (GI) Registry which granted the certification, reports reaching here said.

The exercise is aimed at effectively tackling the production and marketing of ‘spurious and fake laddus’ in and around Tirupati by some unscrupulous elements making the gullible pilgrims as their target. With the grant of the G.I. Certification, the ‘Tirumala laddus’ are now protected under law and its ‘copying’ is prohibited.

The TTD sources said that under the GI, the right to market a product was tied to a definite geographical territory and the certified goods should be produced or processed or prepared only in that territory.

The GI status gives the Tirumala laddus a built-in legal protection and makes any infringement of the copyright a cognisable offence.

The TTD produces in its massive kitchen in the hill temple about one lakh laddus every day using giant ovens fuelled by under-ground LPG tanks.

What makes the ‘Tirumala laddus’ so unique and so much sought-after, as to make the TTD management go in for its copyright (G.I.) is its distinct flavour and its deliciousness.

A range of rich spices like saffron, refined camphor, cashew nuts, dry-grapes, cardamum besides luscious ghee go into the making of the laddus.

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