Chennai’s Koyambedu special market will open on Wednesday for Ayudha Pooja shopping, with the temporary facility operating until October 23 and designated arrangements for crowd movement, essential services and traffic regulation.
The market, organised by the Koyambedu Market Management Committee, will occupy 15 acres of parking space at the foodgrains market in the Koyambedu Wholesale Market Complex. It will sell traditional festival items to households, shops, offices, factories and other establishments ahead of Ayudha Pooja on October 19.
The commodities available at the special market will include aval, or flattened rice, pori, or puffed rice, banana saplings, festoons, pumpkins and other pooja essentials. The 10-day operating window is intended to give consumers more time to complete their purchases instead of concentrating demand on the eve of the festival.
Ayudha Pooja is traditionally associated with the cleaning and worship of tools, machinery, vehicles and work equipment. The temporary market is therefore expected to serve both individual shoppers and establishments preparing equipment for the festival.
Ahead of the opening, Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority Chief Executive Officer S P Karthikaa chaired a coordination meeting involving officials from the market management committee, police, fire and rescue services, the Greater Chennai Corporation and Chennai Metro Rail Ltd. Trader representatives also attended the meeting.
The coordination exercise covers visitor information, public conveniences and vehicle movement around the complex. Signboards will be placed at prominent locations to direct shoppers to the special market, while loudspeaker announcements will provide information to visitors within the premises.
The market management committee will arrange drinking water and toilet facilities for shoppers and traders. Officials will be deployed in shifts to monitor the premises and regulate vehicle movement, with the stated aim of preventing congestion in and around Koyambedu during the shopping period.
The use of parking space for seasonal trading reflects the market complex’s role as a major destination for large-volume commercial activity as well as routine wholesale operations. The temporary arrangement provides traders with a designated area for festival commodities while separating those sales from regular market activity.
The special market will remain operational until October 23, four days after Ayudha Pooja. Authorities have not provided further details in the announcement on stall numbers, expected footfall or any changes to public transport operations during the market period.
