Mysuru: The  Fourth Annual Flower Show organised by the Mysore Palace Board near Varahaswamy Temple inside the Palace will be held from Dec. 22 to Dec. 31.

District Minister G.T. Devegowda will inaugurate the flower show on Dec. 22 at 5 pm. Tourism Minister S.R. Mahesh, Mayor Pushpalatha  Jagannath, MP Pratap Simha and others will be the chief guests. MLA S. A. Ramdas will preside. The flower show will be open daily from 10 am to 9 pm.  Entry is free for all visitors.

The Palace Board will display 20,000 ornamental flower pots, varieties of bonsai plants, exhibit replicas decorated with four lakh ornamental and Ooty cut flowers at the flower show this year.

Flower pots and a large variety of flowers including African Marigold, Antirrhinum, Celosia, Ladylace, Chrysanthemum, Orchids and Gerbera will be displayed at the venue.

This time, the Palace Board will exhibit a 17-ft tall special model of Jayachamaraja Wadiyar as part of his centenary celebrations.

Floral replicas of Lalitha Mahal Palace (70x10x21 feet), Dasara Jumboo Savari model (9 feet) with ping pong flowers,  life-size model of two men taking part in Jetti Kalaga and a Referee reflecting the Naada Habba, Elephant saluting Shivalinga, Nandi Basava models decorated with ping pong flowers will be the major attractions of this year.

For children’s amusement, models of Keelu Kudure (6×5 feet), cycling squirrel (6 feet), Mr. Bean model (5×1/2 feet), Bahubali Part-2 ship model measuring 20x8x9 feet, vintage car model (13×8 feet), models of two peacocks in sitting posture, replicas of Zoo animals like Peacock, Deer, Anaconda, Tiger, Calf Elephant and Zebra  will be the other attractions.

Apart from this, the entrance arch of the flower show gate, portrait of Rajarshi Sri Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar located in the vertical garden close to Varahaswamy temple will be decorated with special plants and ornamental flowers.

Distribution of herbal plants

The authorities have planned to distribute herbal plants with medicinal qualities like betel, tulsi and alovera to all the visitors while leaving after seeing the flower show.

People and institutions taking part in the flower show demonstration will be honoured with special prizes and certificates. Arrangements have been made to listen to classical instrumental music composed by Jayachamaraja Wadiyar.

As part of the flower show, the Palace Board will illuminate the Palace between 7 pm and 9 pm on all the nine days.

Cultural programmes

Apart from this, the organisers have also decided to hold cultural programmes to enthral the visitors from Dec.28 to 30 from 7 pm to 9 pm at the Palace premises. Kannada playback singer Vijay Prakash and team will take part at a musical orchestra on Dec. 30.

The Palace Board has planned to invite Ajay Warrior, Shamitha Malnad, Anuradha Bhat and other Kananda playback singers for the Dec. 28 cultural evening.  It has also decided to invite noted flutist Pravin Godkhindi for Fusion programme organised on Dec. 29.

On Dec. 31 from 11 pm to 12 midnight, the Karnataka and English Police Band programme is organised by Police Department.

The Mysore Palace Board will burst noise-free illuminating fire crackers between 12 – 12.15 midnight to ring in the New Year- 2019 celebrations.

Photo-video exhibition  

A photography and videography exhibition depicting the history of Naada Habba Dasara celebration is organised under the banner Dasara Andu Indu – Wadiyar Rulers on the occasion.

Dolls Show

There will also be a dolls exhibition like the previous year.  Jayashree Nagaprasad will display the dolls on Devi Vaibhava, Annapurna Gopalakrishna on Vishnu Darshana, Geetha Srihari on Krishna Leelamrutha, H. Leelavathi on Sri Ramayana Darshanam, Manjula Venkateshamurthy on Shivamayamidam Jagath and Mangala Krishna on Srinivasa Vaibhava.

35 lakh visitors to Palace   

Speaking to Star of Mysore, Palace Board Deputy Director T.S. Subramanya called upon the public to visit the flower show in large numbers.

He said Mysore Palace is attracting on an average 10,000 visitors every day, while it is about 15,000 during holidays. During December season, on an average 30,000 people visit Mysore Palace while 30 to 35 lakh visit the Palace every year including one lakh foreign visitors.

He said those who are interested in participating in the dolls expo must submit the photographs, videos and related information to the Palace Board Office. The best ones will be selected and displayed.

Last year, nearly three lakh people had visited the flower show and this year also more visitors are expected. The teams and individuals that are selected will be honoured with suitable prizes, he said.

[Pics. by Pragathi Gopalakrishna]