It’s 5 a.m. in Mullik Ghat and workers get ready for another busy morning at the flower market: mosquito nets and blankets are folded after a night’s sleep and shop owners open the shutters waiting for the first flower suppliers.
Located in Kolkata, the market is held every morning: it takes place near the southeast end of Howrah Bridge and is located adjacent to the Hooghly River. Attracting more than 2,000 sellers each day, this is the largest wholesale flower market in eastern India.
The market is an explosion of colours, dominated by the ubiquitous orange and yellow marigolds, frequently sold in long strands and mainly used for religious rituals but also as simple ornaments. Offering flowers to the gods, in fact, is one of the main aspects of the Hindu puja (act of worship).
The smell of flowers surrounds the area around the Ghat and the atmosphere is still surprisingly quiet: by 7 a.m. the hectic activity of sellers and buyers will transform Kolkata’s Flower Market in a overcrowded, chaotic, lively and vibrant place of trade.
