THE FLOWER MARKET AND PERFUME FLOWER PLANTATIONS
The Kolkata Flower Market, also known as Mullick Ghat, is the largest in India and one of the largest in the world. It stretches along the banks of the Hooghly, the western arm of the Ganges, just below the impressive Howrah Bridge. Wedged between the river banks and a railway line, sellers display their treasures on stalls or out in the open, arranging the flowers on large pieces of fabric on the ground among the thronging crowd. Some wear a flower garland slung around their neck and shoulders, and stroll among the passers-by to sell their wares. Countless scents and vibrant colors reflect the variety of fresh flowers on sale every day. Jasmine, tuberose, gladioli, asters, foxtails, chrysanthemums and marigolds are sold by the kilo. The flowers are used in particular for the puja - the offering ceremony worshipping Hindu deities held in temples and private homes, where altars are installed. The offered flower is selected according to the deity honored during the ritual. Flowers are also used as decorations for religious celebrations, festivals and weddings. A few years back, Denis Dailleux travelled to the province of Tamil Nadu in southern India, where jasmine and tuberose are grown in particular for the region's huge flower markets - rather than the perfume industry - and Hindus come to purchase flower necklaces and petals for offerings. Tuberose, with its little ivory flowers budding atop long green stems, is harvested from one o'clock in the morning. Women in saris lean to the right and left to gather the plant, graced with one of the headiest perfumes in the plant kingdom. Then, at dawn, the very delicate jasmine harvest begins; the flower's immensely fragile petals, plucked with the greatest care, exhale a particularly powerful fragrance.
