Two-day mango mela off to a juicy start at Pinjore Gardens

Hemant Kumar

Kalka, July 2

The two-day 25th Mango Mela, jointly organised by Haryana Tourism and the Horticulture Department of the state, was inaugurated at Yadavindra Gardens, Pinjore, today. 

Ram Bilas Sharma, Tourism Minister, Haryana, inaugurated the mango mela. The Minister said there was a plan to upgrade the event internationally from next year onwards.

The gardens wore a festive look as cut-outs and props adorned the mela premises. People enjoyed clicking pictures at the especially created ‘selfie’ points. Drapes in hues of yellow and green on various terraces of the Mughal Gardens lent a perfect look.

Students from different schools of Pinjore and Panchkula participated in the face painting, rangoli and solo dance competitions. The students performed on catchy Bollywood, Punjabi and classical songs. The popular mango-eating competition had students participating with fervour and zeal. 

Performances by Kachchi Ghori-Jaipur and by cultural artistes of the North Zone Culture Centre, Patiala, further added to the charm of the mela. Craftsmen from different states of India displayed their handicrafts and handlooms.

As many as 3,228 entries were received out of which 2,897 entries were of different varieties of mangoes and 331 entries were of mango products. Over 2,900 entries were from Haryana and 364 from Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. There were 765 varieties of mangoes on display. The evening cultural programme for the day was a mesmerising sound, sight & light show on life of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur.