Madurai Jasmine Flowers
Madurai is bounded by several mountains. It is famous for Jasmine Flowers. Jasmine flowers are transported to other cities of India from Madurai. Madurai is well known for its perfumed Jasmine flowers. Jasmine is known as Malli or Malligai in Tamil. In Madurai and its nearby taluks of Perungudi, Nilakottai, Uthappanaickanur and Ammainaickanur, jasmine farms gear up for the season that lasts from February to November when the flower is cultivated on huge stretches of land. Ten days equal one yield which means the entire process of manuring, watering and plucking is done in a 10-day phase. So, it works to three yields a month.
Madurai Malli is an important horticultural produce. The buds are transported every day to major cities in India, like Chennai, Mumbai and Bangalore. The legendary Jasmine flowers from Madurai are world famous. I would give two hoots and a half to ‘world famous’. I would give the world to the fantastic and separate aroma that the Madurai Jasmine permeates.
The flowers that you see in Madurai are so neatly knit and so tightly knit too. There just is no space in between two flowers! Such a contrast from many other parts of the country where there is so much space between two flowers, that if it were a border between India and Pakistan, we would be at war with each other every day !
International demand
From the retailer who buys the produce from the centres, the famed “Madurai malli” reaches the purchaser through shops and street vendors. Every day, these fresh flowers find their way to international markets also. It’s a fast race at break-neck speed. The malli is sent from Madurai to Chennai before eight in the morning. Flowers are tied into garlands or strands, packed into specially made thermacol boxes and air-lifted. London, France, Kuala Lumpur and Dubai are the top four destinations for this unpreserved, yet considerably valuable, commodity.
