18th rose show begins in Nilgiris

Likewise, in a bid to promote sports culture, models of cricket bat and ball, badminton, hockey and football are also displayed in the festival.

The 29-foot-long ‘Eiffel Tower’ made of as many as 35,000 different varieties of roses is the major attraction of the show along with elephant and rabbit models.

NILGIRIS: The 18th annual rose show, which is organised as part of the summer festival, commenced at the Rose Garden in Ooty on Saturday. Tourism Minister K Ramachandran and Handloom and Textile Minister R Gandhi inaugurated the three-day event.

The 29-foot-long ‘Eiffel Tower’ made of as many as 35,000 different varieties of roses is the major attraction of the show along with elephant and rabbit models. Likewise, in a bid to promote sports culture, models of cricket bat and ball, badminton, hockey and football are also displayed in the festival.

As a large number of tourists visit the show, the horticulture department has also created and designed ‘Yellow Cloth bags’ (Manjapai) with roses along with a ‘Go Organic’ sign, which was designed to celebrate the International Year of Millets. The tourists also enjoyed taking selfies with the designs of a butterfly and guitar etc.

Speaking during the event, Minister K Ramachandran said that they are expecting 30 lakh tourists to various tourist spots across the districts this year. The number was 22 lakh last year,  in which 9 lakh tourists paid a visit to the Rose Garden.

“The rose park was established in 1996 by the Horticulture Department and it has turned into one of the number one parks in the world. Initially, 17, 256 roses saplings were planted with 1,919 rose varieties and now as many as 32,000 rose plants are being maintained with 4,000 varieties,” he added. R Gandhi, Minister for Handloom and Textiles appreciated the horticulture department for arranging the event and requested the people to pay a visit.