No travel across the globe, no long queues for darshan and no crowds. All that one had to do to get ‘Tirupati Laddu’ in the US was log on to the e-commerce website PushMyCart and place an order.
The Texas-based Mahita LLC, the owner of PushMyCart, is among those services that have received a legal notice from the management of the Sri Venkateswara temple over the ‘Tirupati Laddu’ – the first-of-its-kind move by a temple in India to safeguard the sanctity and intellectual property of the ‘Tirupati Laddu’.
The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) which manages the temple, has initiated legal action against multiple unauthorised entities that it claims was found selling or promoting products under the name of ‘Tirupati Laddu’ in violation of its registered Geographical Indication (GI).
The notices were served for unauthorised commercial exploitation of the Tirupati Laddu name and falsely associating their offerings with the temple, the TTD said on Friday. The legal notice to PushMyCart, a copy of which is with The Indian Expressrevealed how the platform was unauthorisedly using the GI. One, the platform had linked themselves to TTD by listing the body as a “vendor”.
The legal notice read: “Unauthorised use of the registered GI, coupled with the false association created through your product description and social media content reflects a calculated and dishonest intent to infringe upon TTD’s rights over the Tirupati Laddu”. Then in the Q and A section linked to the laddus, PushMyCart platform had vouched, “Yes, devotees of Tirupati Balaji want to buy Tirupati Laddus online, which is now available on PushMyCart”. The Q and A also said, “PushMyCart sends the Tirumala Tirupati Laddu prasad to the USA and other countries”.
According to the legal notice, some of the laddus could have been obtained by devotees who had received the laddu prasadam from the temple. The sale of prasadam for commercial purposes by any third party is “illegal”, the notice pointed out. When asked the TTD did not reveal how many laddus were being sold through e-commerce platforms per annum.
The legal notices, however, highlighted that the Tirupati Laddu is a protected GI under the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999. “The preparation of the laddu is done exclusively within the Tirumala temple under the supervision of TTD, following a time-honoured and sanctified process. Unauthorized use and sale of the name not only infringes legal rights but also undermines the spiritual sanctity of the offering,’’ the TTD said.
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In response, PushMyCart acknowledged receipt of the legal notice and suspended its product listings pending legal review. Several other vendors have also taken down their listings following TTD’s proactive outreach.
TTD EO J Syamala Rao said that the ‘Tirupati Laddu’ is not just a product, “but a sacred prasadam with deep spiritual and cultural value”.
“We are committed to taking all necessary legal steps to prevent its misuse and to protect the trust of crores of devotees worldwide,” he said.
The TTD said that this is among the first instances in India where a temple offering protected under GI law has been defended through formal legal channels on international platforms.
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“TTD continues to monitor and act against any such violations to preserve the authenticity and sanctity of temple traditions,” it said.
