With more than a hundred and twenty five years of selling flowers, the flower market in Mullick Ghat is now the biggest of its kind in the whole of Eastern India, and is one of the largest flower markets in Asia. Known to all Calcuttans, it is situated just below the Rabindra Setu (1st Howrah Bridge) on Calcutta’s side, and is adjacent to the Armenian Ghat, locally known as the Mullick Ghat. There are more than 100 shops in the market, and one can find some of the rarest and the most beautiful flowers here. The daily hustle-bustle of this market starts from five o’clock in the morning and the flowers are sold throughout the day. On a typical summer day, the market shuts down arounf 7:30 pm.
However, during the Durga Puja, there is a slightly different scenario, where the sales increase by more than 100%, and the amount of flowers sold during these days will be enough to cover more than half of the bridge itself, if not the whole of it.
We, from Taste of Calcutta, went there a few days back and listened to what some of the busiest flower-sellers had to say about how they work and get paid during the pujas, which is different from the other times of the year.
“Flowers come from places like Ranaghat, Kolaghat and Thakurnagar, and they are sold to religious and puja-famous places such as Baleshwar, Cuttack, and to parts of Maharashtra and Gujarat.”, said Ramakanta Misra, one of the sellers who has his shop just on the side of the river Ganges, a few metres away from the main market.
In the words of Mahadeep Samanta, one of the main floer sellers, “I don’t have fixed customers, most of my flowers go to Mumbai and Delhi, and the sales are almost double during the Puja days.”
The market gets the most chaotic after Mahalaya which marks the beginning of the ten day celebration and flowers of various kinds are sold in huge amounts for the domestic and local pujas.
Another seller, Ajit Mondal, who has been in this field for the last 10-15 years, speaks about the kinds of flowers that are sold most during the Pujas. He says, “The bestsellers are the Marigold (গাদা ফুল in Bengali) garlands and the Asian Pigeonwings (নীলকণ্ঠ in Bengali). Also, the main idol of Durga Maa wears garlands made from Tuberose (রজনীগন্ধা in Bengali).”
Deepak, one of the famous sellers there, gave us insights about the sales, saying that the better part of seventy thousands is spent on one famous puja, over the days. “All the big puja pandal committees in Kolkata buy flowers from this market only, and this has been happening for many years, and this will continue for long.”, he said. He also exports flowers to Assam and other parts of Eastern India. The Mullick Ghat Flower Market rises to new mornings of hope everyday during the pujas, and most of the poor people living there look forward to these days with gleam in their eyes, every year.
Interviews by: Jayanti Saraf
Photos by: Subham Shome and Diptesh Basu
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