Month-long summer festival begins in Ooty

Udhagamandalam: Amid the bicentenary celebrations of modern Nilgiris, a month-long summer festival began on Tuesday with a rally from Ooty Government Arts College to the Government Botanical Garden (GBG).

Inaugurating the rally, in the presence of project director of special area development programme (SADP) Amar Kushwaha and Nilgiris SP Murali Rambha, district collector J Innocent Divya said the rally - Nilgiris-200 - was to create awareness among the tourists about the importance of the district and its culture. “As part of the festival, many more rallies and exhibitions have been arranged across the district,” she said.

The rally also witnessed pageants by the horticulture and agri-engineering departments and INDCOSERVE (Industrial Cooperative Tea Factories) as well as cultural programmes by Todas, Kurumbas, and Irulas - tribal community native to the district.

Besides, a night bazaar, first of its kind in Ooty town, was inaugurated on Garden Road at 7pm on Tuesday. For the purpose, the road was declared vehicle-free zone between 7pm and 10pm during the festival.

Welcoming the concept, locals, however, expressed disappointment as the night bazaar was curated badly. “Instead of relocating pavement vendors, who were recently evicted, products unique to the Nilgiris such as tea, eucalyptus oil, honey, Ooty varkey, homemade chocolates, woollen garments and hill-grown vegetables and fruits could have been showcased,” they said. Regular walkers on the road were also displeased with blaring music during the evening.

The bicentenary celebration was started after it was first mooted by the Nilgiri Documentation Centre (NDC) to mark the occasion when John Sullivan, the founder of modern Nilgiris set foot in the district on January 4, 1819.