Munnar Shopping

The Nilavilakku is integral to all the rituals and ceremonies in a Keralite's life. As dusk creeps in, young girls of the family bring the lighted lamps (nilavilakku) to the verandah of the house. In the flickering light of the nilavilakku she is joined by the children and elders of the family, especially the grandparents, in chanting hymns and evening prayers.

What to buy: Lighting the nilavilakku on any occasion is believed to be auspicious. Nilavilakku play an important role at the presentation of various art forms .they are performed after lighting this

What to pay: You can buy one from a handicrafts emporium or a paathrakada (exclusive kada or shop for steel, copper and iron household utensils).

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Many varieties of spices including ginger, garlic, cardamom, vanilla, pepper, cinnamon, coffee, tea, clove and nutmeg is cultivated in Munnar.

What to buy: Spices like ginger, garlic, cardamom, vanilla, pepper, cinnamon, coffee, tea, clove and nutmeg.

What to pay: From 1Rs and over

Flavours, stood distinctively different from all other shops, especially the Name board on it. I had an idea to purchase Home made chocolates and tea, So I dropped in to Flavours on my way back from Munnar. I bought Home made

What to buy: 1. Rum and Raisin Home made chocolate (Rs 35 for 100gm)

2. Vanilla Tea (Rs 40 for 250gm)

3. Leaf Tea (Rs 120 for 1Kg)

What to pay: Rs 50 to Rs 500

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The market area is an interesting place to wander around. Stalls are piled high with fresh fruit and vegetables. Sacks of rice, spices and tea are stacked on available floor space, and banana leaves hang from tops of the stalls.

Cooking pots and utensils of all shapes and sizes are arranged next to plastic toys.
stall holders call out, and locals bargain over the goods.

We didn't get the chance to look at the brightly painted shops, which I would have liked.

What to buy: Fruit
Spices
Tea!

What to pay: From a few rupees

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Dont miss to buy the tasty, rare fruits available at Top Station...
Tree tomato and wild passion fruit..
We were seeing these fruits for the first time. With lot of hesitation we bought 250 g of each just for trying out and after reaching our room we felt we should have bought more..:(, which was not possible as we did'nt want to drive back to top station and next day early morning we had to start our return journey.

This was quite an experience!!

Possibly due to being a religious festival day, alcohol wasn't allowed to be sold at our hotel.

I had a vague recollection of reading that there was a govt run liquor store, our guide confirmed this. The rest of our party were keen to visit, and although he appeared slightly embarrased, our guide took us there.
After a short walk from the market/ bazaar area, we were led up a narrow passageway, at the end of which was a large grille. Through this we could see shelves stacked with a variety of bottles, although I didn't see any recognisable western brands, there was a wide selection of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL). we placed our orders with our guide, and then handed him our money, which was slid under the grille. We were then handed our purchases individually wrapped in newspaper. This all had an air of prohibition about it, and made us feel like teenagers smuggling bottles of cider to a party!!!

What to buy: IMFL's can vary in quality, we were advised to buy the best brand.

Indian beers such as Kingfisher and Sandpiper are good.

Most Indian wines are sweet or very sweet!!, although dryer wines are available.

What to pay: For a 1/2 litre bottle of gin (IMFL) I paid 66 rupees
and 3 bottles of Kingfisher beer 23 rupees each!!
with tax my bill was 237 rupees!

I can't vouch for the taste of the gin, as I gave it away as a present in Kovalam.

Shopping visit : http://www.keralatourism.org/index.jsp?resource=shop

Chundan vallom models

These are made of Anjili wood, the Chundan valloms or Snake boat of Kerala are over 24 to 36 metres long and can accommodate up to 100 oarsmen.
The first Chundan vallom dates back to the 9th century and used to accommodate upto 200 men on board.

The Chundan miniatures are seen with varied decorations - sandalwood or ivory fittings, brass buttons etc and are often modified as candle stands, pen stands, key holders etc.

What to buy: Chundan vallom miniatures have carved a niche for themselves in every home, as well as curio shops and handicrafts emporia across the State. Hundreds of villagers have made an occupation of making these models which are in great demand across the world.

What to pay: Prices range from less than a hundred rupees to a few hundreds depending on the size, the kind of wood and embellishments used.