KOCHI: To add taste to the holy month of Ramadan, the Dates Festival has begun at Ernakulathappan Ground in Kochi. The fest offers the people of Kochi to taste and buy over 25 varieties of dates from across the world.
Imported from Madina, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Jordan the exhibition offers a wide variety of dates like Qadira, Fard, Harmony, Farje, and many more. The only ‘desi’ item is the Rajasthani dates. Along with dates, natural honey and Amla are also put on sale. ‘Ajwa’, a quite expensive date, which is believed to be used by the Prophet to break his fast is the showstopper. The price of the dates range from Rs 120 to Rs 4,000 for Ajwa. Date products like date and honey juice, date laddu and mouth watering date halwa have also found its way to the stalls.
“There are almost 100 types of dates all over the world and we are proud to present at least 25 of them,”, says Ishak, secretary, Prakruthi Arogya Vichara Vedi, organizer of the exhibition. “We only collect natural food, and try to bring out as many as varieties and types of products, from them. This is the joint effort of the members of the Vedi, with an intention to bring good quality natural products to the customers,” he said.
The exhibition, although is new in Kochi, is being conducted in Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam for the past five years. The exhibition will conclude next Monday.