62nd Kodai flower show off to grand start as cool climes pull in more tourists
With favourable weather owing to the onset of the southwest monsoon in Kerala, Bryant Park was a heaven on earth for visitors
Workers prepping up the Bryant Park ahead of the flower show
MADURAI: The Kodaikanal 62nd Flower show, which got off to a colourful start at the Bryant Park, saw a grand arrival of tourists on Saturday, with over 9,000 guests.
The nine-day Flower show, inaugurated by R Sachithanantham, Dindigul MP, on Saturday in the presence of K Manivasan, Additional Chief Secretary, Tourism and Culture, and Collector S Saravanan, offers a unique visual experience.
With favourable weather owing to the onset of the southwest monsoon in Kerala, Bryant Park was a heaven on earth for visitors. Many of them, who enjoyed pleasant weather at the hill station, had their photos snapped in front of floral structures and fruit and vegetable carving designs.
According to Kodaikanal Deputy Director of Horticulture E Natarajan, a vast collection of flowers numbering 70,000 is on display. The star attraction of the show was the floral replicas of ‘Geographical Indication’ (GI) earned products of the Dindigul region, including Dindigul lock, Kodaikanal hill garlic, and Ayakudi guava.
Visitors took cell phone snapshots in a selfie point designed with heart-shaped flowers. The deputy director added that the annual flower show displayed vegetable carvings done to showcase a mother elephant advising its calf not to consume plastics, sending a message to visitors.
The Deputy Director told DT Next on Sunday that by the end of day one, the show had drawn 9,514 footfalls.
Horticulture Officer of Bryant Park, M Sivabalan, said that 26 exotic species are displayed at the show. He added that the show was off to a good start this year as it generated much more revenue through entry fees this time. Usually, the daily average revenue is about Rs 4.70 lakh, but it has crossed Rs 6.30 lakh on the first day of the Flower Show this time.
