GEORGE TOWN: Various preparations are going on in conjunction with Deepavali on Oct 31, but nothing is sweeter than the presence of traditional Indian cakes, sweets and snacks in celebrating the Festival of Lights.
Delicacies such as laddu, chittu urundai, nei urundai, kallu urundai, jalebi and athirasam (Indian doughnuts made using jaggery), which symbolise joy and friendship, are mostly offered in every home during the festive days. Moreover, various sweets that originate from India, especially Tamil Nadu, reflect the rich culture of the Indian community.
In Little India here, the sweet vendors are hard at work to produce the traditional goodies due to the high surge in demand leading up to Deepavali, with many visitors coming to buy them because sweets are an essential element of the celebration and without sweets, it feels incomplete.
Sweets and muruku trader T. Ravi, 33, said this year his family's company will produce 30,000 varieties of sweets in conjunction with Deepavali.
He said the family business that has been operating for 20 years also produces about 50,000 pieces of muruku sold at 50 sen a piece.
Ravi said even though prices of raw materials such as rice, margarine, ghee and cooking oil have increased, his company has maintained their prices the same as last year.
"For example, the price of each piece of sweet ranges from 60 sen to 90 sen only, and we only increased the price by 10 sen per piece starting last year due to the increase in the prices of several items.
"Now my stall is receiving more visitors as everyone wants to make early preparations because they do not want the situation to become congested in the Little India area ahead of the weekend holidays," he said when met in Little India here Wednesday (Oct 23).
Another trader, selling sweets, peanuts and muruku, K.Thanaraj, 35, said among the best-selling products leading up to Deepavali are the regular muruku and achi muruku apart from various types of cookies.
He said all the muruku and sweets are prepared by family members themselves because they run the business together with the help of three additional workers when the Deepavali festival approaches due to high demand.
"The prices are still being being sold at the same prices as last year, that is 50 sen to RM1, depending on the type of sweets and muruku. I have decided to absorb the operating costs so that customers can enjoy these snacks during Deepavali," said Thanaraj, who produced 20,000 pieces of sweets and 30,000 pieces of muruku. - Bernama
