Prizes given away to winners of jackfruit cooking and eating contests

Mysuru: The two-day ‘Jackfruit Mela,’ organised by Sahaja Samrudha Samsthe and Rotary Club of Mysore West at Nanjaraja Bahadur Choultry, concluded last evening.

The response was overwhelming from the public with a few of the foodies found grumbling that the Mela should have continued for a couple of days more to satiate their urge for their dear fruit.

A woman, Bindu from Kuvempunagar, was found desperately looking for the special reddish variety of jackfruit at the Mela but had to return disappointed as the stock had exhausted. She said that there is a jackfruit tree in her house but not her dear reddish variety which is a rarity.

Over 2,000 saplings of various trees were also sold at the Mela. Prizes were given away to the winners of cooking contest featuring jackfruit and the fruit-eating contest.

In the cooking contest, the first three prize winners were Mangala Prakash of Bogadi, Mysuru, Lata Shekhar of city and Rajeshwari Muthanna of Virajpet respectively.

The jackfruit-eating contest winners were Sudhakar Vittal of Chikkamagalur (first), Radha of Mysuru (second) and Sudha of Belur (third). 

Na. Karanth of Adike Patrike (Puttur) was the chief guest during the prize distribution.

Speaking after distributing the prizes, Samsthe Head Krishna Prasad said that the Mela was organised to stress the importance and benefits of desi varieties of jackfruit with no contamination of pesticides.

He regretted the influx of chemically treated and imported jackfruits in the market which was deemed harmful for the health. He felt sorry for organising the Mela towards the end of the fruit season as many people had to return empty-handed as stock was getting depleted fast with no replenishment to meet the great demand.

He assured to organise the event next time for a long time on a grand scale.