Merchants ready for Krishnashtami celebration: Brisk business expected

Mangaluru: in the backdrop of Krishnashtami, the people in the city are getting busy doing preparations to celebrate the festival. With many preparations occurring throughout the city, flower and fruit merchants are preparing themselves to cater for the purchasing needs of the customers.

With the passing of Nagarapanchami, Varamahalaxmi festivals, now the countdown has begun for Ashtami. The temples and associations in the city have made special preparations for the celebration of the festival on August 23^rd.

Not only the district, but merchants from Uttara Kannada too have arrived to the city and are indulging in the sale of flowers and fruits at various locations in the city including Bejai, Hampankatta, Kankanady, Hamilton circle and car street.

Although the buyers’ intensity was less on Wednesday, the numbers increased on Thursday in the backdrop of Ashtami on Friday, inform merchants.

Rise in vegetable prices

In the backdrop of the closure of the ghat routes, it is not possible to get vegetables from Bengaluru, Hassan, Mysuru and hence vegetable prices have risen. The price of country ladyfinger which used to be Rs 100 per kg is presently raised to Rs 240, bitter gourd has risen from Rs 80 to Rs 100 while bottle gourd cost has increased from Rs 50 to Rs 100. The prices have also increased due to the crop loss because of inclement weather, opinions David, a merchant. Although vegetable prices have increased, fruit prices have dropped slightly, informs Basheer, a merchant.

 Moode

It is traditional to prepare Moode during Ashtami. In this backdrop, the number of people buying moode will be higher and accordingly, merchants keep Moodes for sale. Thursday saw a brisk business of Moodes and many other commodities, informs a merchant.