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S.ravi
Advanced Member
India
4205 Posts |
 Posted - 09/15/2009 : 20:04:53
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Tirupati laddu gets global patent
TNN 16 September 2009, 02:50am IST
HYDERABAD/TIRUPATI: Here's some sweet news. The famed Tirupati laddu -- the most sought-after prasadam for lakhs of pilgrims who throng Tirumala -- too joins the ranks of Darjeeling tea, Madhubani paintings and Goa feni after it was granted the Geographical Indication (GI) patent rights. This bars others from naming or marketing the sweetmeat preparation under the same name.
Temple sources said the Tirupati laddu got the patent rights under the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act on Tuesday. The TTD, which manages the Lord Venkateswara temple in Tirumala, had applied for GI with Chennai-based Geographical Indication Registry in March last year to avoid its blackmarketing by hawkers and middlemen.
"The laddu is now protected under law and nobody can copy it,'' G L Verma, assistant registrar of trademarks and GI, said. Under GI, the right to market a product is tied to a definite geographical territory and the manufactured goods should be produced or processed or prepared in that territory. P H Kurian, controller-general of patents designs and trademarks, also confirmed granting of GI status to the Tirupati laddu.
The Tirupati laddu is the popular name for Srivari laddu, which is offered as prasadam to the devotees after they worship the Lord. "The laddus are not produced anywhere in the world and are very unique in terms of quality, reputation and other characteristics which go into its making,'' a TTD official said.
"The laddu prasadam came into being in the early 1920s, though some temple priests claim that it existed even before the 17th century,'' a former official said. One 175 gm laddu costs Rs 25 now.
Around 1.5 lakh laddus are made daily and the annual revenue from sales is a whopping Rs 2 crore. Potu (kitchen) workers said 5,000 kg of besan flour, over 10,000 kg sugar, 1,000 kg cashewnuts, 350 kg cardamom, about 500 kg ghee, 500 kg sugar candy and 750 kg of raisins go into the preparation of laddus everyday.
Primarily there are two types of laddus -- small and big. A small laddu weighs 175 grams whereas the big one weighs 700 grams. The big one comes with a Rs 1,000 kalyanam puja.
Popular items that have been granted GI tag world over include champagne and tequilla. The procedure helps in preventing others from surreptitiously exploiting a brand name that has evolved over a period of time. Sources said the GI status also provides legal protection and facilitates for action in case of infringement.
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S.ravi
Advanced Member
India
4205 Posts |
Posted - 09/21/2009 : 08:35:25
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Rs 50 darshan to continue: TTD EO
TNN 21 September 2009, 05:20am IST
TIRUMALA: Reiterating that providing a hassle-free and quick darshan to the pilgrims is the top priority for TTD, executive officer IYR Krishna
Rao allayed fears over the scrapping the Rs 50 and free Sudarshan tickets, saying the facility would be continued.
He said the main aim behind the introduction of Rs 300 Sheegra darshan ticket was to reduce the waiting hours of the pilgrims and put a check on the dalari (ticket agents) system. "This darshan is more pilgrim-friendly since they can directly purchase the tickets at the Vaikuntham queue complex without the middlemen troubling them," he said.
The EO said the Sheegra darshan tickets are available round-the-clock unlike Archana Anantara darshan (AAD) tickets which are sold only in the morning just for a few hours. Answering a query, he said they are planning to further liberalise the darshan system in the larger interests of the pilgrims. "The pilgrims opting for Sheegra darshan will be allowed in separate queues for a quick darshan of the Lord," he asserted.
On the confusion over Rs 50 darshan tickets, he said the free and Rs 50 Sudarshan token system would remain untouched. "Every day we issue 12,500
Rs 50 sudarshan tickets, which are booked in advance, and 2,500 free Sudarshan tokens. We are working out modalities to increase this number as well," he noted.
Reacting to the cancellation of Rs 100 cellar and Rs 200 AAD tickets, Krishna Rao said the demand for these tickets has crossed over 15,000 each day though only a limited number of tickets were available for these two darshans. "This, in fact, has led to a spurt in dalari activity. As AAD begins at 5.30 am, the pilgrims are forced to stay back in Tirumala for accommodation as they have to wait in long queues to purchase AAD tickets through bio-metric system which, in turn, is forcing pilgrims to approach agents. The cancellation of AAD not only ends the dalari system but reduces stress on pilgrims," he added.
Refuting the charges that the change in Arjitha sevas like Sahasra Kalasabhishekam, Tiruppavadai and Asthadalapadapadmaradhana has resulted in Agama violation, he said the question of deviation from Agama shastras would not arise as these sevas were not regular rituals but only paid sevas. "Regular sevas like Suprabhatam, Thomala, Archana etc will continue," he added.
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Tirupati laddu gets global patent
