Kaithiri, Chatti and Palaharam ! - (Handloom, Pottery and Snacks !)

One of those lucky days when I had lovely time shopping saree, pottery and snacks !!

Feel so contented more so because it was Anil who came up with the plan of going to Balaramapuram to buy – ‘Kaithiri, Chatti and Palaharam’ (Handloom clothes, Earthen pots/pans and hand/home made snacks)

Since last 10 years I have been hearing about Balaramapuram which is famous for production  of traditional handloom textiles meant for the contemporary cloth wearing style of Kerala which is Mundu, Set Mundu and Kerala Sarees. Just about 22 Kms from our home and took us 10 years to actually go and explore the streets there.

Even though we had heard from friends that Balarampuram is known for the handloom stuff, we did not know where exactly to find the shops. Balaramapuram is located on National Highway 66 and even though we have taken that route couple of  times while driving down to Kanyakumari, we  never saw any “Only Handloom” shop . So today we decided that we will go to the market place and ask for the handloom shops.

Balaramapuram is a small town, and everything is around the market and just walk able distance from the NH. “Single Street “is the handloom street. The street looks like a remains of what would have been an  ‘ Agraharam”. We decided to get into a traditional house, with neatly put “kolam” outside. I was expecting a small set up but was surprised to see the stock and range of items they had. Very reasonably priced from Rs 300 to Rs 7000 all beautiful cotton handloom Mundu, Sarees. While going through the stock saw large orders being packed and then came to know that they (K Padmanabhans Handloom) are wholesale dealers. From the latest trends & designs (Set Mundu with Kamalamkari Kara, Embroidary Kara) to the age old  traditional designs everything was there.   We took few things (I always stick to the simple tradition designs) which we wanted. The people were very warm, polite with lot of patience :) . In that  small street almost every house is into Handloom textile business.

From there we walked back to the NH and saw 5-6 shops of “Chatti Kalam” on the road side. Got few pots and pan (Black and Red clay) again very reasonably priced, and very sincere people, who ensured that the pot was not cracked or leaking. Spoke with them and came to know that the pottery comes from villages in Tamil Nadu around 25-30 villages are engaged in pottery.

On our way back got into the Snacks street ! It’s a road next to  Vedivechankovil  temple. Vedivechankovil is situated on the Thiruvanthapuram-Neyyattinkara-Kanyakumari highway located about 13 km from the Trivandrum central railway station (Thampanoor). "Vedi" means cracker. This place got the name the  temple situated near the highway where offerings are made in the form of bursting firecrackers. ! You will find lot of small shops/homes where women are engaged in making Hot Murku, achappam, Naiappam, Bondi Ladoo, Mundiri Kottu – All fresh in refined oil front of you . Stocked up our snacks and back to Trivandrum. The whole shopping experience was so stress free, more so because my dear husband felt that I didn’t buy enough for the variety and price range I had to choose from. I would highly recommend people going on Kanyakumari route to check out Balarampuram. :)