Floral spectacle draws 50K people to Lalbagh

On Sunday, annual flower show in Lalbagh raked in D24 lakh; a majority of the visitors were all praise for the displays.

BENGALURU:The buzz around a model of Kuvempu’s house, a new Metro station within walking distance, and a Sunday — all these attracted almost 50,000 visitors to Lalbagh botanical garden on Sunday for the annual Independence Day Flower Show.

As per official records, 49,970 people visited the garden on the first Sunday after the flower show began on August 4. On Sunday, authorities raked in about Rs 24.5 lakh. The number of visitors and the revenue were more than double compared to Saturday, which saw about 20,000 visitors bringing in a revenue of Rs 9.04 lakh.

Floral arches made a picturesque scene at the annual Independence Day Flower Show in Lalbagh; A temporary stage was set up for the first time where cultural programmes were conducted; Nets were put up throughout to prevent bee attacks | JITHENDRA M

Renowned poet Kuvempu’s ancestral home in Kuppalli at Thirthahalli taluk of Shivamogga district is quite the architectural gem. However, if you are hard-pressed for time to go see the actual structure, you can do the next best thing and head to Lalbagh to see a floral model of the house. The house was made using 3.25 to 3.5 lakh roses and orchids. Three colours of roses were used -- red, yellow and white. Drasina and asparagus were used as filling material.

Above: It was extremely crowded at the flower show on Sunday; Installations made
with potted flower plants were a major attraction and so was a model of Kuvempu’s house (right) | jithendra m

The glass house, which houses the model, was packed with visitors eager to catch a glimpse of the model or take a selfie next to the floral installation. Other attractions included arches, slides, animal shapes and the number 71 — indicating the 71st Independence Day — all adorned in flowers. Visitors were also seen relaxing on the vast lawns and the rock on which sits one of the historic Kempegowda towers.

Visitors were all praise for the model of Kuvempu’s house. Praneeth Shetty, a visitor, said, “I really liked the model, and the choice of the theme. I had come last year too, and I would say overall, I liked this year’s flower show more than last year.”

Foreigners visiting Bengaluru too made a visit to the show. Salim, a native of Palestine, is a regular visitor to the garden but didn’t know about the flower show. “I saw large crowds and I became curious as to what was happening. That’s when I found out about the flower show. The house (Kuvempu’s) is brilliant, and the flowers were beautiful.”
Some visitors, however, were not entirely happy. One of the main grouses was the crowds near the model house. Neha Malhotra, a first-time visitor, said, “There’s a mad rush and the police are not even letting us stand there for a little while.”
Sagar Prasad said, “I liked the concept but I feel there should have been some information on Kuvempu for non-Kannadigas.” In fact, non-Kannadiga visitors, when asked, had no idea about what the house signified.

Nick, a native of Germany, said while he liked the flowers, some looked like they needed watering. The large model, within the glass house, is replete with doors, windows, pillars, slanted roofs and a statue of the poet. Environmentalist and chairman of the advisory committee for gardens in the state A N Yellappa Reddy was present at the inauguration of the show on Friday.
He said the choice of Kuvempu’s house as a theme was apt. “Kuvempu spent several hours in Lalbagh and wrote several excellent poems about its trees. No other poet has covered Lalbagh as he has,” Reddy said. The flower show also marks the 50th anniversary of Kuvempu receiving the Jnanpith award.
Deputy director of the garden Chandrashekhar said, “We have used cut flowers to build the house. Potted flowers include begonia, marigold, china star, geranium. We began preparing the flowers about two months ago.”