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A carnival like atmosphere
prevails at the rose festival
(Photo: IANS) |
Chandigarh:
It is an event that continues to have an important place in the
cultural calendar of the city. As Chandigarh's Rose Festival this
week enters its 40th year, residents throng in large numbers.
The star attractions are the millions of roses themselves, but
there is also a host of activities, including competitions and
cultural shows, at the festival being held at Rose Garden in
upscale Sector 16 here from Feb 24 to 26.
Children would be crowned "Rose Prince" and "Rose Princess" and
there will be painting and flower contests. Commercial and food
stalls will be set up in the adjoining Leisure Valley in Sector
10.
In recent years, the footfall at the festival has crossed over
300,000, officials here said.
The Rose Garden has nearly 40,000 rose plants of over 800 rose
species from all over the world.
The garden was set up in 1967 and was essentially the brainchild
of Chandigarh's first chief commissioner and keen horticulturist
M.S. Randhawa - a man credited for giving the city millions of
trees and a number of gardens and green belts.
The authorities here claim the Rose Garden, spread over nearly 30
acres, is the largest in Asia. Along with the roses, the garden
also hosts trees of medicinal value.
"The Rose Festival is an important event for Chandigarh. Though
the city itself is young, different generations of families have
been coming in the last four decades to be part of it," former
councillor Chander Mukhi Sharma told IANS.
The Rose Garden has been divided into 10 sections. These sections
are not only for roses but also for a children's play area,
scrubs, medicinal plants, a hillock and musical fountains.
Some of the roses at the garden have been named after
international and other personalities - from Britain's Queen
Elizabeth and former US president John F. Kennedy to former prime
minister Lal Bahadur Shastri and M.S. Randhawa.
Some of the unusual names given to the rose varieties are: Only
You, Dulhan, King's Ransom, Hippie Girl, Love Me Tender, Careless
Love, Lover's Meeting, Delhi Prince, Oklahoma, American Heritage,
Louisiana, Canadian Centenary, City of Belfast, Wild Plum and
Dorothy Peach.
"We have to take care of the roses so that they are in full bloom
when the festival comes. This year the winters have been
excessively cold," said Subhash, a gardener.
For a few years the name of the festival was changed to Festival
of Gardens by the local administration. However, for common
people, it has always remained the Rose Festival.
Hundreds of people from Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh visit
the city for the annual festival. They come here packed in buses,
trucks and even tractor-trolleys. The festival also attracts
people from other parts of the country and foreigners.
Chandigarh, which was planned and designed by French architect Le
Corbusier and his team in the 1950s-60s as a symbol of a
resurgent, independent India, has a total population of over one
million.
(Jaideep Sarin can be contacted at jaideep.s@ians.in)
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