From expansive gardens to bustling market corridors, ABINAYA KALYANASUNDARAM shadows the trail of flowers as they travel from farms in the outskirts of Tamil Nadu to the Koyambedu flower market, before they go on to fulfill their destiny as bouquets, garlands or decorative ornaments
CHENNAI:A mix of heady floral scents fills the air as mounds of jasmine, roses, and marigolds vie for attention. "Thallu thallu, vazhile nikaadhe" (move out of the way), men holler across to each other as they throw sacks of flowers over my head. It's 2 am. While the city sleeps, this is a scene of ordered chaos here at the Koyambedu flower market.
Built over 20 years ago, the Koyambedu flower market sits pretty, next to the vegetable and fruit markets, all part of the Koyambedu Wholesale Market Complex. Close to 800 flower shops, both wholesale and retail, are registered in the flower complex alone. While there are several other flower markets in the city, none compare to the scale and variety available here. Over the years, the market has accumulated a loyal patronage of buyers, who rush past balancing sacks on their heads and arms, and retail buyers haggle for cheaper rates. It’s an unforgiving every day life here, at the largest market complex in Asia. Swing by to take in the heady floral fragrance, and watch the flowers cascade to the floor.
2 am – 4 am: The cargo arrives
Cloaked in the 2 am darkness, flower-filled lorries arrive at Koyambedu market complex. Most flower vendors stay here all night. “We have our own stall areas, where we sleep. We wake up at 1 am to prepare for the lorries, which arrive between 2 am and 4 am,” says Palani, a middle-aged flower vendor. After unloading, the vendors carry the respective cargo to their stalls and mist the flowers to revive them. “After being on the road for hours, in warm trucks, it's natural for some of the flowers to fade, especially in the summers when we have to throw out at least a quarter of the produce,” says another vendor. This is one of the reasons the delicate cargo is transported at night when there’s no harsh sunlight.
5 am: Customers trickle in
As dawn breaks, the miscellaneous lorries, vans, and trucks clear out. Customers now throng the market. The retail flower vendors arrive first — to pick the freshest and loveliest of them all. They are soon followed by event decorators, florists, and the small-time pookara ammas. And soon, individual buyers flock the market. By 9 am, the best of the lot is sold out. “The crowd usually wanes out by 10 am, and picks up again by 3 pm or 4 pm,” a young boy tells me, as he helps his dad arrange their orchids. The regulars know where to get the best rates. "I have been coming here every Thursday, for the last three years, to buy jasmines and marigolds for various poojas in my house, on Fridays. Sometimes I buy lotuses too, but today the quality is not as good as on the other days. You need to be careful with the vendors, or they will take you for a ride," says Ramamoorthy a retired businessman. "In the 10 years that I have kept coming here, the rates have increased for the malli poo, but it's still considerably cheaper inside here than in shops outside. It is worth the extra distance that I have to travel," says Janani, a garland-maker. .
9 pm:Markets close
After dusk, only the unchosen ones remain. The light has faded, and so has their bloom. Shopkeepers begin the cleaning process; they tuck in the flowers in wet cloth hoping to salvage at least a few. Some lights are switched off, makeshift beds are rolled out, and the flower-keepers hit the sack (literally) for a few hours of slumber. The day will begin early tomorrow.
Blooming prices
Each vendor chooses to sell any one or two varieties of flowers— jasmine, roses and marigolds. Based on the flower seasons, the income varies. P Raja, who sells varieties of marigolds and roses gets his maximum income in the months of September to December. "On average, I earn Rs 20,000 a month. But during off season, I earn only Rs 10,000," he says. VMM Muthu who also sells only marigolds, concurs, "From February to October, it is the season for jasmine. So the jasmine vendors will see profit." The ornamental flower vendors, on the other hand, see profit on all auspicious days. "On muhurtham days, we see highest profits. Because wedding halls need to be decorated with several kilos of flowers," says a shopkeeper, sprinkling water on his orchids and roses. While orchids cost Rs 400-Rs 500 for a bunch of 20, roses cost Rs 100-Rs 150 a bunch. But the cost reduces by a third, on other normal days. "Lilies cost the most at Rs 500-Rs 600 for 10 flowers, on muhurtham days" he says.
Street value
From the traditional malli and samandhi poos to the ornamental gerberas and orchids, a florist’s dream resides in this maze. Alongside the central courtyard space at the market, men stand beside their stalls, deftly weaving four-feet tall garlands. Some are gorgeous braids of jasmine and roses, and some weave in a yellow sembarathi that are used to dress up brides and Goddesses in temples. “We use banana stem fibre as the base to braid the flowers,” explains Antony, swiftly handing me a finished malai that weighs at least two large schoolbags. My hands buckle, and he laughs. “It’s around 1.5 kilos. This large one is usually used for decorating the statues of important personalities.” The petals garland (Jyothika malai) is the most popular one, and costs anywhere between Rs 400-Rs 2,500 based on weight and freshness. The dhandu malai is the biggest variety, weighing 30 kg and costing Rs 10,000. Outside the complex, small-time flower sellers squat on the road, stringing flowers effortlessly as they gossip amongst themselves, trying to catch the eye of a potential buyer. “We sell by mozhams – it is usually Rs 20 one mozham. In winters, it is at least Rs 30-Rs 40,” says Janaki, a flower vendor. She sits and braids jasmines and roses on a string, the white and red combination is the bestseller, she says. You can also find lotuses and nagalinga poo vendors, who bring the flowers from their small home gardens. “I pluck these lotuses from the ponds near my house. It fetches me a meagre income,” an old woman shares. A bunch of eight lotuses costs Rs 20. “I love coming here every day and watching people of all types come and go. Some arrive in cars, and autos, and many by cycles or on foot. It’s fun to watch people struggle to fit large flower sacks onto their bikes, trying to balance the ride. At least one or two people fall every day!” she laughs.
From seed to flower
Flower farms are located in Hosur, Dharmapuri and other districts in Tamil Nadu, from where they are sent to Koyambedu every day. “All the rose varieties come from Hosur, because the climate there is ideal for their growth,” says a vendor. Sentu malli, Kambu and button roses come from Dharmapuri, “I grow the sentu malli hybrid varieties, which grow throughout the year. Once planted, the flowers can be harvested after 65 days,” shares Gunasekaran, a farm owner in Dharmapuri. It has to be watered every three days, and certain medicines need to be sprayed to encourage good growth. The cost of sentu malli is usually Rs 40-Rs 60 per kg, and button roses are Rs 100 per kg. “A few months ago, we sold sentu malli for as less as Rs 2 per kg, because of very low demand,” he rues. Flower farms face tremendous loss during summers and rainy seasons, depending on the weather.