South India Continued

saris for sale

 One of my favorite things to do when I travel to new places is to walk through the local markets.  South India had wonderful markets, where everything was for sale.  Soup to nuts, as my grandma would have said.

The man is carrying sugar cane.  The sugar cane harvest was in full swing when I was there in January and sugar cane is used in the Pongal Festival (a harvest,/new year festival/Thanksgiving celebration).

turmeric root

I love all the terracotta pottery that is for sale.  Small dishes, cooking pots, vessels, puja plates, bird houses, water containers and on and on.  All functional, all beautiful, all showing the hand of the potter.  Unfortunately it's very hard to pack, heavy and doesn't travel all that well....

rice, grains, dal for sale

Oh, how I love the bananas!

All the wonderful, fresh and sometimes exotic vegetables made me wish for a kitchen so I could try my hand at cooking up some wonderful Indian vegetarian fare.

These are some of the colorful powders that are for sale to use in making the wonderful designs you see everywhere outside doorways during Pongal.

Fancier water vessels than the terracotta ones,metal cooking pots, mesh baskets....

....garlands....

....and strainers and shawls.  Anything you might need can be found at the markets.  They are colorful, noisy, energetic and fascinating!