Temple officials said 10 laddus would be given to every employee as a gift for ‘Ugadi’, the Telugu New Year, as reported by Livemint.

Tirupati: The famous Tirumala temple closed for devotees as a precautionary measure to arrest the possible spread of corona virus. Manwhile, the temple authorities have decided to distribute over two lakh laddus among its employees free of cost.

Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), which manages the affairs of the hill shrine, will distribute 2.4 lakh laddus, among 21,000 regular and contract employees.

As per the temple officiials, 10 laddus would be given to every employee as a gift for ‘Ugadi’, the Telugu New Year.

‘Tirupati laddu’, the famed sweet is given to millions of pilgrims as ‘prasadam’ or sacred offering by the temple. It is made with flour, sugar, ghee, oil, cardamom and dry fruits.

The temple authorities prepare lakhs of laddus in advance to meet the daily requirement from thousands of pilgrims.

It is estimated that on an average, around 3 lakh laddus are sold every day in Tirumala. Earlier in January this year, The TTD authorities started giving one laddu free to every pilgrim. About 80,000 to one lakh pilgrims visit the temple every day. However, many devotees buy the laddus, available for ₹50 each.

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