The remarkable SM Street : A street that portrays the ancient culture of Kozhikode
13 Aug 2022
Article SM Street
Kozhikode is famous for its Halwa, available in different flavours and colours, ready to play with your tastebuds. It is a sweat treat representing the culinary traditions of Kozhikode in its true essence and conquered the hearts of many, popularising it in overseas, as well. Due to its ever-growing popularity, the street was lined with sweet-meat (halwa) stalls, and continued to rule the hearts of locals and tourists alike. It is believed that halwa delicacy is a contribution of Arab settlers in the city, years ago. Thanks to the generous heart of Zamorin Ruler who offered land to all those who arrived in Kozhikode. The Zoroastrians or Parsis practised different businesses with some working on ice plants, while others were bankers and so on. The Gujaratis traders, who settled here long ago, brought cloth from mills across Mumbai, Surat, Ahmedabad, and sold it in Kozhikode as Kerala had no cloth mill at that time.
SM Street is a shopper’s haven. It has a whole load of shops and that too selling diverse range of things. You can purchase from anything to everything and satisfy all the shoppy cravings here. As is seen, it kicked off with all those businesses that were initiated long ago by the Parsis and Gujaratis and locals alike. Walking through the pathways of SM street in the evenings and night is a worthwhile experience. The buildings in the street retains its old structures and some are over hundreds of years old. One other notable feature in SM Street is that we can find the statue of the eminent Malayalam writer S.K.Pottekkat facing the street. ‘Oru Theruvinte Katha’ (the story of a street) is a novel based on SM street, sketching a host of characters who spend their lives making a living in ‘The Street’. S.K.Pottekkat was a great traveller among the Keralites and has written many travelogues. According to him, the classic red ghee halwa could be seen everywhere on the street. It looked like a cut of meat, and this might have made the British to name the street as “Sweet Meat street”
Many landmark and famous businesses are rooted here in SM Street. Here is a list of top establishments in SM street.
Get a great experience visiting this local restaurant serving authentic Malabar dishes especially the Chicken Biryani. It is a must visit for non-vegetarians. TopForm restaurant is owned by Najaf Group of Restaurants, based in the Middle East, serving the customers worldwide with various mouth-watering delicacies. Top form has been maintaining their good rapport with customers and has been in service for three and a half decades and still running. Traditional Kozhikoden Biriyani to the Mughal dishes, Arabian dishes to Chinese, TopForm serves them all as is the individual requirement.
Koyenco Bazar is a main trading centre inside the S M Street with loads of wholesale and retail textile and footwear outlets.
Popular shops like Silky, Kottons are located here. There are several small shops where you can die shopping for dress materials, footwear. Also available are many stitching centres to have outfits worn to your preference. You could also access the Address Mall from here.
One of the oldest and highly sought-after bakeries for halwa. The store offers a wide range of halwas prepared in coconut oil and ghee. The bakery which shelves more than 24 verities of Halwas made of pure ghee or coconut oil, is now run by the third generation.
The bakery still runs with all its glory this itself is evidence of its good service. So, do find time for yourself to taste some delicious, chewy, juicy Kozhikodan Halwa and that too in a variety of flavours! There are lots of other snacks and confectionery, including a sweet from Lakshadweep to conquer the foodie in you.
Radha Theatre is a well known and oldest theatre in town. It was established in 1937 and over the course of its journey, servicing audience, it has set a firm foothold in the field of entertainment. The long years of service and the vast base of customers garnered from their journey, has helped the firm keep up with generations and entertain the audience to this day. It occupies a noticeable location in S M Street and commuting to this place is convenient with the availability of various modes of transport.
5. Kasavu Kada
Kasavukada is a wonderful place of handlooms with wide range of designs, traditional to innovative, simple to exquisite, that suits individual preferences. People from Kerala adhere to wearing the traditional handloom clothes during auspicious occasions and Kasavu kada has always been their apt choice. Handlooms are a part of our unique culture and something we treasure.
Set mundu, super fine Dhotis for men, Kutti-mundu for small kids, gorgeous bridal wears, rich collection of unique saris and comfortable wears for elderly people are all offered by Kasavu kada. Special service to produce and supply clothes according to client requirement is also met by the firm.
Kalanthans is one of the oldest and best juice space in town, located in SM street. The only problem with this place is lack of parking and seating arrangement. It is amongst thle oldest ice-cream and cool bar spot in the heart of Calicut city where you get the ethnic feel of 90's cool bar and taste different flavoured juices at affordable price. Even though the shop has limited space, there is no time you will find it without the rush of customers. The shop manages to provide quick services even in the peak times. You can choose from the variety of juice flavours served here and this is the spot where the delectable Sharjah shake originated and found its way to the hearts of local people. The shop serves delicious juices, shakes, faloodas, ice-creams etc. and is simply worth the try.
This is one of the top footwear shops in Kozhikode where you can afford to buy the best footwears. Located in the SM street junction, right opposite to Radha theatre, Max Footwears stands as one of the oldest footwear shops in Calicut with their impressive collection of branded and non-branded footwears. The footwears are cost effective, and one can find good deals also.
8. School Bazar
School Bazar has almost everything covered in connection to school stationaries for children and students. Here you can even find brands like American Tourister. Also, they showcase best gift materials from all over the globe.
School Bazar is an authorised dealer in American tourister, Wild Craft, VIP, School bags, college bags ,office bags, travel bags and other variety bags. Toys, Stationary items, Popy and Johns umbrellas etc. are also available here.
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