Chennai: Tirupati laddu is seeing new packaging. This was necessitated by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams banning plastic in the Sri Venkateswara hill temple last month.
It is said the temple sells 5 lakh laddus per day and 1 lakh plastic bags to carry the delicacy that is a speciality of the Balaji temple.
After the ban came into force, the devasthanam gave exemption to plastic carry bags for laddus alone.
Now, the temple authorities have decided to introduce cardboard boxes for the laddus. The boxes will have the images of Sri Venkateswara and Goddess Alamelu Manga Thayaar apart from the seal of the devasthanam.
According to reports, the authorities tested the boxes to see if they can keep the laddus fresh. After it was found that the laddus remained fresh even after 10 days in the boxes, they decided to introduce the new system.