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GI for Tirupathi Laddu: Whose Interests are Protected?

  Original Date of Publication: March 16th, 2010 The Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanams (TTD) trustees of world’ richest temple on Tirumala Hills secured Geographical Indication (GI) Registration for sacred Laddu Prasadam, from Indian Patent Office, Chennai, recently, raising many eyebrows. It is criticized as its latest manifestation of brazen commercialization of divine abode. Ironically, sacred Tirupathi Laddu now joins the company of goods like Darjeeling Tea, Goa Feni, and Champagne wine etc. What hurts devotees is the way Prasadam is reduced to a…

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The iimage depicts a Tirupathi Laddu

Public Interest or Private Monopoly- The Case of Tirupathi Laddu

This post was first published on August 7th, 2012. In a legal tangle that finally unknotted in late July, the Geographical Indication (GI) of ‘Tirupati Laddu’ has drawn a lot of attention, regards the religious sentiment attached to it. Unlike, Madhubani paintings, Darjeeling Tea or Goa Feni which enjoy the Geographical Indication tag, the roadmap for a GI status to the Prasadam(The ‘Tirupathi Laddu’), the temple being managed by Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanam was not a sweet path to reckon with.…

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