Onam and Pookalam are inseparable. It is an integral part of the 10-day festival, during which different eye-catching floral designs adorn the entrances of houses. When it comes to flowers, Madurai cannot be left behind. For, Madurai’s flower market is known for its 24x7 operation.
Till recently, Madurai was the main hub for the flower buyers from Kerala, which shares its eastern border with Tamil Nadu. But now it has changed. “People don’t come to us even for Malli now. Because, the Sathyamangalam farmers are active in Malli farming and Coimbatore has taken over the Malli market from Madurai, especially during Onam,” says ‘Pookadai’ S. Ramachandran, president of the Madurai Flower Market.
Earlier, flowers such as Kozhipoo (Feathered Amaranth), Sevvanthi (Chrysanthemum), Vadamalli (Globe Amaranth), Arali poo (Ghanera), Sambangi (Frangipani) and Kanagambaram (Firecracker Flower) apart from different varieties of Malli (Jasmine) were transported from Madurai specially for Onam festival.
Now, they are bought in Coimbatore, Theni and Kanyakumari districts. “Only Arali and Kozhipoo are transported from Madurai,” says Ramachandran, who regularly supplies flowers for the Padmanatha Swamy Temple and Attukkal Bhagavathi Amman Temple festivals.
“Earlier, on an average 30 tonnes of flowers from Madurai used to reach the Thiruvananthapuram Flower Market but now Madurai’s contribution has gone down and is less than a ton,” says Shashidaran Nair, secretary, Thiruvananthapuram Flower Market.
Thovalai flower market in Kanyakumari district now bustles as people from Thiruvananthapuram and Quilon find it easy to travel to Thovalai for their requirements. Dindigul is popular for the Vadamalli flowers while Hosur has become the new hub for roses that are grown in Bangalore. Buyers from Vandiperiyar and Kottayam travel to Cumbum and Chinnamanur to buy Sevvanthi and Sambangi flowers.
