Temple to distribute 200,000 laddus to mark New Year

The Yoga Narasimhaswamy temple in Mysore will distribute 200,000 laddus to mark the New Year on January 1 in continuation of its tradition started almost 40 years ago.

The temple authorities said that the practice of distributing laddus was initiated in 1994 by Bhashyam Swami and has continued without a break since then.

In all, 60 expert confectioners specializing in making traditional sweets have been roped in and are working round the clock under hygienic conditions to meet the target of preparing two lakh laddus, said S. Srinivasan, administrative officer of the temple located in Vijayanagar.

He added that preparing the sweets began on Dec. 20 and would conclude on Dec. 31.

While 15,000 laddus will be two kg in weight and massive in size, the remaining will weigh 150 gm and be distributed to the devotees who visit the temple on Jan. 1.

The ingredients used in their preparations include 100 quintals of gram flour, 500 kg of cashew nuts, 500 kg badam, 1000 kg of diamond sugar, 10,000 liters of edible oil, 2000 kg boora sugar, 500 kg of raisin, 500 kg of pistachio, 50 kg ‘’jakai and japatre’’, 50 kg of edible camphor or ‘’pacche karpura’’, clove etc.

The temple authorities said that the taste would be similar to the Tirupati laddus and would be distributed to every visitor to the temple.

On Jan. 1, the temple will open at 4 a.m. for special rituals and pujas conducted by the priests who will pray for the peace and welfare of the society.

The main deity will be decorated with special flowers procured from Srirangam and Madurai, and the priests will perform ‘’Sahasranama Archana’’ to mark the occasion.

When the tradition was initiated in 1994, 1000 laddus were distributed, and this grew over the years, and 200,000 laddus have been distributed in the last few years.

Though the State government has not imposed any restrictions or curbs in the wake of the emergence of COVID-19, it would be in the collective interest of all for the visitors to wear masks while visiting the temple, said the authorities.