Come July, Tamil Nadu blooms into vibrance. Sharp summer sun rays ease into mild, scattered showers, the Tamil month of Aani gives way to Aadi, and homes and temples dedicated to female deities burst into colours and fragrance.
Across homes and temples of Namma Chennai, floral garlands, ornaments, and backdrops play a major role. Flower vendors, on Fridays, become part of city’s sprinting hustle (Aadi velli), instinctively weaving together buds of nandiyavattai (pinwheel), malli (jasmine), and roses closer to each other, one after the other, to make crowns, saris, skirts, veshtis, shoulder adornments and more for Amman, Kaali, and Perumal.
Arjun A, a flower stall owner in Koyambedu flower market, who has been in this business for 15 years now, says, “We get to beautify our goddesses. Flowers enhance the beauty of the idols.” They regularly make outfits, accessories, and poo jadais for deities ranging from 3 ft to 10 ft and export them to countries including Singapore, Malaysia, and the US, apart from delivering them citywide and statewide.
“Five of us get together to work on one piece, and it takes us a day to complete one order because the work is very detailed and nothing could go wrong,” Arjun notes, adding that the labour increases threefold during this month. Still, their hard work is also appreciated well in the form of customers placing orders year-on-year. TNIE lensman P Ravikumar captures the scenes from Sri Ayyappan Flower Stall, where thousands of flower buds are transformed into elaborate floral adornments.