Feast near Tricity: 225 mango varieties on display at Pinjore Mela

Inaugurating the mela,Chhatar Singh,Principal Secretary to Haryana Chief Minister,said the mela provided an opportunity to visitors to see and taste a variety of mangoes. He added that it would also help farmers share their knowledge,provide a common platform to artisans and self-help groups to display and sell their products.

Dhanpat Singh,Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary for Tourism,added that six fountain channels and four cross channels have been renovated or conserved with marble at their bottom and sides. The conservation of structure of Jal Mahal has been completed,and new fountains and lights have been erected around it.

Ramps at various terraces have been constructed for making the gardens disabled-friendly. Glittering lights would be affixed at the garden soon,he said.

Chanchal Bharti,a renowned qawwal and a popular exponent of Sufi music,performed on the occasion. Various contests such as rangoli and face painting were organised on the occasion. About 150 people participated in face-painting competition,and about 200 in the rangoli competition. The contests to be held on Sunday will be painting,fancy dress,mehndi and mango-eating.

For entertaining visitors,the mela had Haryanvi dance,bhangra,Kachhi Ghori of Rajasthan,puppet show and bamboo walker and bioscopes.

Food stalls have been set up by the Institutes of Hotel Management at Kurukshetra and Panipat; Imperial Institute of Hotel Management,Manimajra; Rayat Bahra Institute of Hotel Management and Fort Ramgarh Institute of Hotel Management. The mela will come to a close on Sunday.