Singari Shankaraiah first established a 1 foot (0.30 m) Ganesh idol in 1954 at a temple in Khairatabad. Shankaraiaha freedom fighter founded the Sri Ganesh Utsav Committee of Khairatabad in 1954. The committee was formed following the calls given by freedom fighters such as Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. From then, the tradition was followed by the members of the family and committee. The height of the idol increased with each passing years, i.e from one-foot idol to 61-feet.
The Khairatabad Ganesh Laddu Prasadam is very special. For many years, Malli Babu, a sweet-maker from Andhra Pradesh supplied the laddu.
In 2015, the sweet-maker offered Laddu weighing 6 tonne. However, managing the crowd became a big task that year, and the committee started sourcing Laddus from local vendors. After a gap of six years, Malli Babu sent a Laddu weighing 100 kg last year.
“This year, a devotee has offered to send a Laddu weighing 1 tonne. The sweet will be kept at the feet of Lord Ganesha and then distributed among devotees,” added Sandeep Raj, joint secretary of the Ganesh Puja Utsav,
This year, the committee has tied up with city-based start-up Deva Seva for delivering Laddu Prasadam at the doorstep.
This year more than Rs. 1 crore was spent on eco-friendly Khairatabad Ganesh. Nearly 150 artists worked on the idol. Paint colours came from five different states while artists from Chennai did the clay work.