The alwa from Madurai’s Prema Vilas lies on a mandarai leaf, dripping sugary ghee and reminding me of sunshine. Giving into the temptation instantly, I scoop a warm blob into my mouth using a wooden spoon. Sweet sunshine. That’s how the alwa in Madurai’s Prema Vilas tastes and if you are a skeptic, I dare you to try for yourself.
Although Thirunelveli Iruttu Kadai alwa precedes it by its world-famous reputation, Madurai’s Prema Vilas has plonked itself on a sweet spot in a city that’s famed for its meat delicacies. Its location too cannot be any better at just a few hundred metres from the railway station. A reminder for you to not leave Madurai without having tasted Prema Vilas alwa.
There are quite a few Prema Vilas sweet shops in Madurai, but the one on Town Hall Road at West Veli Street junction is the oldest of the lot. Started by Ganga Ram Singh in 1954, the sweet stall is run by his five grandsons. Prema Vilas, we learn, was named after Ganga Ram Singh’s first daughter.
One of the five grandsons, 43-year-old Saravanan, whom we met on the day we visited the shop, smiles sheepishly when we ask him about his grandfather.
“We don’t know much of where they came from or why they started this stall. All that we know is that our grandparents who were farmers moved from Chokkampatti in Kadayanallur (Thirunelveli district) and started this sweet stall, Madurai’s first at that time,” he says.
Ganga Ram Singh and his wife Ganga Bai look down upon the bustling sweet shop from their framed photos on the wall while Thilak Singh, Prema Vilas’s employee of 25 years, deftly hands over scooped up “sunshine” in mandarai leaves, a tradition that Ganga Ram Singh started. Almost 20 years after he set up the shop, Ganga Ram Singh passed away, leaving the business to his wife and four daughters.
Saravanan (L) and Thilak Singh (R); Gnaga Ram Singh’s portrait on the wall
With a little prodding from our end, Saravanan adds that his family is made of fifth generation Rajputs who moved down from “somewhere in the north” to Madurai. He also stakes his family’s claim on all the famed sweets from this belt of Tamil Nadu. “Lakshmi Vilas in Vathalagundu, Srivilliputhur’s Venkateswara palkoa, Thirunelveli’s Iruttu Kadai, Madurai’s Lakshmi Vilas were all started by cousins from the same family. Chittappas and Periyappas,” he tells us.
The sweet shop’s name board has ‘Thirunelveli Lala Mittai Kadai’ just beneath Prema Vilas.
Historian Sriram in one of his pieces writes that the Singhs were originally Rajputs who were brought to Tamil Nadu as cavalrymen for the kingdom of Chokkampatti. It is believed that with their dispersal to other parts of the state, their tradition of sweets too reached far and wide, gaining the reputation it has today.
A few kilometres away in Subramaniapuram neighbourhood, is Pema Vilas’s factory where the alwas are lovingly stirred and transported at least twice a day to the shop where they are sold within seconds.
sev milagu mixture
Every day, close to 5000 customers flow up and down the platform on which the shop stands. The owner, however, does not reveal how many kilograms of alwa they sell on a daily basis.
“We don’t keep a tab on it,” says Saravanan.
Every day, production begins at 7.00 am when generous amounts of ghee, sugar and wheat milk are laboriously stirred until the smooth and soft texture is achieved. While one kilogram of the alwa is priced at Rs 280, 50 gms served in mandarai leaves are up for grabs at Rs 15.
The sev milagu mixture too is a favourite among customers. The best way to treat your taste buds would be to devour the warm and glossy alwa sprinkled with cashews first and then crunch on some sev milagu mixture. And repeat.
Source: The News Minute