The city got into the festival mood on Sunday with Kochiites living up to the traditional Uthradapachil when last-minute preparations and shopping are done ahead of Thiruvonam celebrations.
The city’s thoroughfares were crowded with shoppers. The Ernakulam market and adjoining Broadway were the scenes of major action with the latter being nearly choked with shoppers. However, the Ernakulam vegetable market was overshadowed by hundreds of temporary vegetable outlets across the city. These outlets had been opened three to four days ago catering to Onam shoppers who look for fresh, locally-produced vegetables. The temporary shops were opened by various organisations, including the Vegetable and Fruit Promotion Council Keralam, Horticorp as well as Kudumbashree Mission volunteers. Cooperative societies had their own outlets.
Flower sellers occupied most of the footpaths near Menaka Junction, Palarivattam and North Railway Station Road. People selling the traditional Onathappan were few and far in between, except at Ernakulam market and Thripunithura. The price of the set of clay artefacts has gone up considerably this year and ranged between ₹100 and ₹1,000 depending on their sizes.
Among vegetables, the price of nendran banana had soared to more than ₹80 a kg in the retail market on Sunday though there was no scarcity of the produce from within Kerala. The nendran banana produced locally gets a premium compared to the produce imported from neighbouring States. The price of premium quality njalipoovan sold for about ₹80 a kg while bitter gourd sold for about ₹75.
The price of vegetable cowpea ranged around ₹100 a kg in the retail outlets while drumstick prices were cooler this year compared to the previous years. Small onions (shallots) sold for a little less than ₹100 a kg though pre-Onam weeks had seen the price of the produce going up rapidly in the retail market.
