Diwali brings flavourful cheer for Amritsar residents
A popular saying goes, ‘Dal Roti Ghar Di, Diwali Ambarsar Di’. The century-old bazaars come alive during the festival, adorned with décor and jampacked with tourists and locals, who throng the city during this time of the year to celebrate Diwali and Gurpurab by paying obeisance at Golden Temple. Grand floral and traditional motifs decorate market places to invite consumers, who are ready to indulge in some festive shopping though with recent price hike and inflation, anxiety and apprehension are writ large on the faces of buyers and traders alike.
All said, the traditional festival special sweets and essentials seem to have cheered up the residents, as they celebrate Diwali. The wholesale bazaars inside the walled city are the most popular and crowded during Diwali, with the maximum buzz found in Khidoneyan Wala Bazaar (which traditionally sells candied edible toys used in Diwali Lakshmi Puja), while a push towards the local and sustainable Diwali décor has the potters market lined up with a colourful display of clay pots, earthenware and diyas. Guru Bazaar, a hub of gold and silver jewellery, too becomes abuzz despite the high gold prices, ahead of Dhanteras.
Among the most bustling markets during Diwali is the Mishri Bazaar, Bhadbhunjiyan Wala, Bhandiyan Wala Bazaar (utensil) and Guru Bazaar. Traditionally, these bazaars offer festive-specific goodies, including candied sweets, dry fruits, murrabas and dry figs, which are used as Diwali gifts or in rituals. These are sold across Punjab and Himachal Pradesh besides Jammu and Kashmir. These traditional snacks have managed to find relevance and their place despite the overwhelming ‘packaged fancy’ chocolate-loaded Diwali goodies.
The otherwise quiet lanes of these bazaars come alive only during the festival selling idols of gods, goddesses and toys made of terracotta, figurines and earthen lamps. Anticipating an impressive turnout of customers on Diwali eve, shopkeepers have set up stalls on the roadside covered with white sheets to display items made of earthen ware.
“Diwali is the only time of the year when we make good sales as people buy these traditional items in bulk. Most of them now prefer packaged hampers offered by the big sweet shops, which might look good but are not healthy. These traditional snacks are healthy as they contain dry fruits, seeds and natural sweeteners like jaggery and ghee,” shared Ramesh Khanna, a wholesale dealer in Mishri Bazaar.
Among the traditional sweets that find relevance during Diwali here are petha, ghee and dry fruit pinni and laddoos. These are prepared in almost every major sweets shop. While petha enjoys an upper hand in terms of sales as a lot of it is bought in bulk to distribute among the employees, desi ghee pinnis and boondi laddoos are traditional sweets that enjoy good sales as Diwali gift options.
“The fact that all three sweets do not use milk or khoya for preparation makes them a bit healthier. Also, there are only a few specific sweet shops that make ghee pinni, so consumers usually trust them with quality,” said Sunil, a sweet maker at the famous Longowala Mata Mandir sweet shop that sells pinnis like hot cakes.
