Apart from beauty, each flower has its own value

Tirupati: Be it a wedding function or a birthday party. Whether it is opening ceremony of a business firm or an anniversary of another. Without flower decoration any function is incomplete. The richness of events depends among other things mostly on flower decorations. Everyone feels that flowers can enhance the look of venue with its beauty, colour, type and fragrance. In the same breath, every religious occasion is complete with a bunch of colourful flowers only.

Tirupati, the pilgrim city, is not only special for its temples but also many marriages take place in the city. People find it a sentiment to get married at the abode of Lord Venkateswara. Marriage parties come to Tirupati from across the country though either the bride or groom do not belong to the city just to get married here. On an average during wedding season minimum 400-500 marriages take place in Tirupati, Tirumala and Tiruchanoor. There were times when about 2,000 marriages took place on a single day.

It was no surprise, flower market in the city was flourishing as the flowers flourish every day. Tirupati has geographical advantage as it was very near to Bengaluru which is famous for its flowers. Various varieties of flowers were being imported to Tirupati from Bengaluru, Chickballapur and places in Chittoor district like Madanapalle, Pileru, Kuppam and Puttur. Some flowers were imported from Kadapa, Kadiri and other areas.

Of them roses, orchids, gerberas, black flowers, oriental flowers were mainly imported from Bengaluru. One insider told that flowers worth of Rs 50 lakh being imported daily from Bengaluru by all flower merchants in Tirupati. On festivals and auspicious days, the volume will be more than double. To a question, how much would be the average turnover when such a volume of flowers was imported, he said, it’s around Rs 5 crore. “This is a mega business. On festive days, even a small merchant who makes Rs 5,000 worth of business on normal days will see Rs 50,000. There are around 10,000 people involved directly and indirectly on flower market.

All the imports were made online. The merchants transfer the amount online to their supplier in Bengaluru. On receiving the amount supplier, call the merchant in Tirupati to take the order. After receiving the order, he will immediately take steps to send the flowers to Tirupati. By paying Rs 300 per box, the merchant receives it.

A Kantha Rao, a flower merchant who takes decoration contracts for major functions, said it has become a prestige for everyone. Even for a middleclass marriage they were spending Rs 2 to 3 lakh for flower decoration. The cost varied with the type of flowers they prefer.
Even for deaths Rs 30,000 to 50,000 worth of flowers being spent. Big shots insist on imported flowers. He added that each wedding garland costs anywhere between Rs 1,000 to Rs 30,000. Of them, Rs 5,000 – Rs 10,000 garlands were quite
common.

There is appreciable workmanship also in the workers here. Kantha Rao said, “there were experts coming from Kolkata and Bengaluru. We need to pay them Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 daily. For local workers Rs 500-Rs 1,000 have to be paid. Everyone insist that the work should be class. Nobody will compromise with the quality of work. We get orders from other areas also. It is important to satisfy the customers by completing the work as desired by them.”