KANNIYAKUMARI: Flower sellers of Dr MGR flower market at Thovalai are busy sending flowers to Kerala for the Onam festival as the demand for many varieties of colourful flowers goes up during the festival.
Thovalai, which is situated near Nagercoil in Kanniyakumari, is famous for its flowers that are cultivated in and around the Thovalai area. As Dr MGR flower market is at Thovalai, the arrival of the Onam season brings more business to the flower vendors here. Besides the flowers from Thovalai, the market also sees the arrival of flowers from Hosur, Rayakottai, Selam, Dindigul, Madurai, and Kodai Road among others.
In the run-up to Onam which is to be celebrated on August 29, Thovalai sees vehicles lining up to load flowers to be transported to Kerala.
A functionary of the flower market, S Krishna Kumar told TNIE that the main Onam flower business will happen between Sunday evening and Monday morning. "With the flower business booming, more than a hundred vehicles from Kerala have arrived at the market to collect the flower loads. We expect to sell more than 1,000 tonnes of flowers this Onam. Compared to the previous year, the business has increased. Additional workers are being employed at these shops ahead of the Onam eve business," he said.
Stating that the different varieties of kenthi flowers have seen a great demand for Onam festival, he said 1 kg of yellow kenthi is sold at Rs 60-Rs 70 and orange kenthi at Rs 100-Rs 120. He also said rose flowers are sold at Rs 250 per kg.
Meanwhile, flower sellers such as P Veeraputhiran and S Bala, who have been busy sending six tonnes and five tonnes of flowers respectively, to Kerala via train said their Onam festival business has decreased this year. They said it could be because some of the traders from Kerala have been directly purchasing flowers from places like Rayakottai and Hosur.
Stating that besides selling flowers that are cultivated in and around Thovalai, Bala said the vendors have been purchasing flowers from other places and sending them to Kerala in order to meet the demand.
Krishna Kumar said as Thovalai and its neighbouring areas such as Aralvaimozhi, Kumarapuram, and Palavoor are known for their flower cultivation, people and traders from Kerala come here to purchase fresh flowers as Thovalai is closer to the state.