THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The floral carpets this Onam are most likely to be less colourful. With Onam at the doorstep, the prices of the flowers to deck up the festivities are already scorching. The flower prices in the market have been spiralling up at a swift rate even before the advent of Onam.Within a week, the market has already seen the prices shoot up by about Rs 100. The price of marigold, which was Rs 90 a week ago, has risen to Rs 150 per kg.The price of crossandra (Kanakambaram) has also increased to Rs 175 from what was just Rs 70 until a few days ago. The much-loved and sought-after oleander (Arali) will also cost the customers dearly. If the price of the oleander was Rs 60 before Chingam, it now costs Rs 140. Jasmine, which is always on high demand, has crossed Rs 400 with the start of Chingam. The shooting up of the prices is appalling, considering the fact that before Chingam, the price of jasmine had ranged only between Rs 80 and Rs 100.The shopkeepers account the rocketing prices of these flowers to the huge demand they have in the market. "This is a common phenomenon. We are forced to increase the prices of these flowers in accordance with the price of flowers in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka,” says T Rajan, a flower shop owner at Chalai market.However, the prices have not affected the sheer varieties of flowers on offer at the market. There are yellow and orange marigolds, white, pink and red oleanders, red and orange crossandras, violet bachelor’s buttons and velvet red cockscomb(Cheerapoovu), jasmines, roses and atemisia (Marikozhunthu).This season has also seen prices going up by five times the prices just a week ago, say the shopkeepers. In a way, this is also the time when the flower merchants recover from the lull. “The months from May to August are considered inauspicious months for marriage. So, marriages never happen during these months and the business will be dull. But from the month of Chingam, we have a good time as this month is the month of marriages and Onam,” says Suresh, another flower merchant.In spite of the high prices, the customers are not ready to abandon the flower market. “There cannot be Onam without ‘pookkalam’. So, we have to buy the flowers to decorate our homes. We will buy the flowers even if the price goes up ten times than the current price,” says Ravindran, a taxi driver.
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