Madurai Malli

The only difference that I feel extremely palpably in living at home in Madras and America is the lack of culture and tradition. Evenings spent in the temple : soothing and retrospective. Moralisations. Tuesdays with morrie mathri "Evenings with God nu oru book e podara level kku experience.

The total lack of flowers!! Man!! I really miss them. Different different kinds of flowers. Malli, Kanambaram,Samandhi, roses, pavala malli, senbagam and a very soft kind of malli called..hmm..forgot. Free!! I loved the last the best. It gave out a scent that was like!! WOW!

I would back from college by 6:30. After freshing up lightly, without any kind of moisturizers or skin cream!! Just plain soap not "fragrance free, soap free, oil free, chemical free"!!! What are they selling ??? water?? Mysore sandal. hmmm.. Heaven!!!

Walk lightly slippered(chappaled) to the street shop two lanes away.

"Vaa maa. eppdi eruka? enna nethu varave illa? unnakaga scendu eduthuvechuerunthen!!""

The easy familiarity of the person who knows you, has been selling you stuff and that "personalised attention".. Not the celluloid reproduction of the smile barely touching the eyes..

"Illa college the vela jasthi. Rendu mozham thanga. Moona cut panni"..smile. Thanks.

"appa varuva. avar kodupar ma. nee po"

My idea of a pleasant and happy conversation with a vendor I am absolutely comfortable. Not like walmart. 1000 stalks of malli joined to together. Cut at will. I hate uniformity.!!!

Mozham alllakarthulernthu, kokara vitham varaikum ellame different. Each vendor, his stalls, the arrangement. Especially near the temple. "Malli poovum kooda inga meen vasam veesum" -there are areas like this. Zambazar. Hate it though.

After buying the flowers, arranging them on the hair. Leaving it long, folding it to adorn near the ears. Pulling out a strand of hair from the otherwise neat plait to tuck in a strand of jasmine without hairpins.

Usually after 2 hours flowers like jathi and light malli fade away. But "scendu" or closely packed malli does not even for 2 days. Patti used to remove the flowers from hair and secret it in a polythene bag and place it in the fridge.

Trivia : you should never wrap flowers in vazha ilai(banana leaf) for it conducts heat much faster and the flowers will fade.

Even in madras, there are places where you just dont get good flowers. Like Adyar, Besant Nagar, Anna Nagar..these places are too posh for the common malli to thrive. But Thiruvallikeni, Mylapore and Town are the best places for flowers.

All my illusions about jasmine was put to rest when I went to Madurai. Legendary is the Madurai Malli and man!!! Asandhe ponen. flowers are dealt out by the thousands. Not by mozham. They call it "cher" and there is "padi" alavu for it. A cher contains this many thousand/hundred flowers. Even when they are strung into strands, they are given by "1000 poo". Wow.

The night after the flowers have been removed. Man!! My pillow smells of Jasmine and my hair in the morning is divine. My head reeks of Pantene and Garnier here. Back home amma did not allow any of this filth to touch my hair. It is used to be Shikakai, sambrani and malli poo.

Every time, I heard the dialogue from Thiruvilayadal "Is the women's hair naturally scented?", I cant but exclaim and say! "Not at all. It is due to the flowers that lend their lives to decorate the hair.

A divine endnote from Kurai Ondrum Illai - Mokoor Lakshmi Narasingar

There are 3 types of flowers : 1. Those which are kept for "Mangalakaramana" purposes(auspicious like weddings, decoration(of humans ofcourse).

2. Those which are unfortunate to be born for "asantharpas"(death)

3.Those that go to the Lotus feet of the Lord.(Prayer)

Of all these, the last are the most lucky as they not only reach the Feet in their small lives and live with Him forever but also because they carry the heart of the devotee to the Lord and their time in appraising the situation of the hands that held them.

The best form of worship to the Lord is not gold, not money but the mere offering of flowers. The poorest of devotees can do it. The Lord reveals that the only flower that He shall not be worshipped with is that that harms His devotee's fingers.

So pray. Worship. Celebrate with flowers.

Those in India buy a strand and decorate even your vogue hairstyle. Husbands, get flowers for wives. Wives :wear them and make husbands happy. Devotees :Flood your Lord with flowers and get all that you wish.

A Flowery Adieu!!