Mysuru: A ‘Santhe’ or farmer’s market is sparingly heard these days particularly for the millennial class and city dwellers. But not for those hailing from hinterlands.

As part of the ongoing Dasara festival, Mysureans got a chance to experience such a market — Hasiru Santhe – this morning at Krishnaraja Boulevard. An added attraction was Chitra Santhe, a display of art, paints and creativity. District Minister V. Somanna and Chamaraja MLA L. Nagendra visited then venue. 

On one side of the stretch, organic farmers were busy emphasising the importance of organic food while on the opposite side of the road artists were busy displaying their artworks. The day-long event from 9 am to 5 pm is also featuring spot painting.

People gathered in large numbers to buy organic food and vegetable products at Hasiru Santhe organised by the District Administration and art lovers thronged to Chitra Santhe to buy artefacts, rare paintings and contemporary sketches.

Farmer associations from Mysuru, Mandya, and Chamarajanagar displayed a variety of pesticide and chemical-free organic products. A number of fruits and vegetables including Siridhanya (millets) and environment-friendly greens and grains along with other home-made delicacies were on display.

One of 30 stalls showcasing organic food products included cholesterol-free Nati Koli (desi poultry) each weighing about 1.5 kg and cholesterol-free Nati Motte (desi egg) which they claimed as tastier and healthier than farm chicken.

Most of the stalls displayed catchy slogans and taglines including ‘Switch to Clinical-Free Living’ and ‘Carry-A-Bag, Say-No-Plastic’ to create awareness. Traditional recipes including sweets made of millets and chemical-free jaggery drew a large number of householders. Potter’s wheel was also on display with live demo and clay products for sale.

Gopala Gowda of Chunchanakatte in K.R. Nagar was selling environment-friendly manure including bio-fertilisers, compost, coco-peat and other such products. Ganesh Beedi Works was distributing cloth bags on which visitors could paint on-the-spot.

Thousands of visitors and art lovers were also seeing drawings, art works and paintings on the other side of the road. Students along with some professional artists displayed their works including paintings on wood, glass, canvas and paper. Face painting, pencil sketching, watercolour, oil paintings and other artworks were on display. 

Paper cutting artwork by Chandan Suresh and Parikshit was one of the major attractions. Origami was one more attraction. In one of the stalls, an artist was displaying pencil lead artworks with which he had made miniature models of Modi, Ambarish and Siddharamaiah.