Prices of puja essentials shoot up in markets as footfalls match pre-pandemic times

MADURAI

MADURAI

Prices of flowers and other puja essentials at the local markets in Madurai and Dindigul have shot up ahead of Ayudha Puja celebrations.

Flowers being an integral part of the Navratri festival, especially Saraswathi Puja, jasmine was being sold anywhere between ₹800 to ₹900 at the Mattuthavani flower market.

Prices of sevvanthi doubled to ₹300 per kg, while rates of ‘pichipoo’ went up to ₹600 a kg. “Demand for arali, from Nilakottai rose up, as a result of which, red, white and pink arali were being bought for ₹700, ₹600 and ₹500 per kg respectively,” said M. Sundarapandi, a wholesale vendor at the market.

S. Ramachandran, president, Mattuthavani Flower Market Vendors’ Association noted that a kg of ‘Madurai’ malli was being sold between ₹1,200 and ₹1,000 while button rose and sampangi was being sold for ₹300 each, fetching good prices for vendors.

“The stock of puffed rice (pori), one of the offerings made to Goddess Saraswathi during Ayudha Puja has been procured from Palani and Eriyodu in Dindigul district and Singampunari in Sivaganga district in great quantities. Sacks containing 95 kg of pori are sold at a wholesale price of ₹600,” said A. Boopathi, a pori seller on East Masi Street who also sold flattened rice (aval), fried gram (porikadalai) and groundnut (kadalai), other offerings during the festival.

He added that pori sellers from surrounding areas would flock to the street on the eve of the festival since many loyal customers buy the goods from here, year after year. It was seconded by S. Saravanan, another pori seller for 25 years who had set up a stall three days prior to the festival season.