I had last visited the Lalbagh flower show in the year 2012. This year again I got an opportunity to visit the Independence Day flower show when the show was nearly ending. Only two days were left. On weekday morning at 10 AM we reached Lalbagh thinking that early morning on weekday crowd will be less. Butthe huge crowd proved our thinking was
wrong. This was the 202nd edition of the flower show. Every time the show organizers come up with the different theme. This time the two main attractions inside the Glass House were - The replica of Bengaluru Palace created using nearly 2 lakh colorful Dutch roses and statues of five Maharajas (Wodeyars) of Mysuru.
Replica Of Bengaluru Palace created using Roses
Near the statues of Mysuru Maharajas boards were installed that speak of their contributions to the state. There was a photo gallery which had rare collections of photos from the Royal Families of album of memories. The specialty of this year's show was - Rajamata Pramoda Devi Wodeyar and the new scion Maharaja Yaduveer Krishna Datta Chamaraja Wodeyar themselves inaugurated the show.
Statues of Mysuru Wodeyars
There were many other attraction at the lawn area outside the Glass house which depicted the lifestyle of Royal family of Mysuru. As a tribute to the great Kings of Mysuru , this years flower show was transformed into Mysuru King's Garden.
One more attraction at the lawn area was the sand sculpture of former President Late Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. People were busy taking selfies with this sculpture.
Flowery Musical Instruments : Musical Instruments made out of different colorful flowers were displayed at the lawn area.
Trumpet and Gramophone
Saxophone
Harmonium and Mridanga
Bonsai Garden had Elephant created using Tomatoes and Capsicums.
Apart from all these special attractions, there were many varieties of flowers, plants, herbs, shrubs in the show. The show also featured hundreds of stalls and specialized nurseries where people can buy plants, gardening needs, pesticides, manure, seeds etc. There were also stalls demonstrating roof top garden, balcony garden concepts. My previous posts on Lalbagh : Lalbagh Flower Show : 2012 Mango and Jackfruit Mela @ Lalbagh An Evening In Lalbagh Roses From Lalbagh Rose Garden
August arrived again and Lalbagh is getting ready for its annual flower show. Preparations for the week long flower show must have started by now. This time flower show is open to the public from August 7th to 15th. Last time I had visited the flower show in the year 2012. After that I have visited Lalbagh many times for other reasons but not for the show. Hope this year I can make it to the flower show if circumstances allow :) Whenever I visit Lalbagh, I make sure that I spend some time in the rose garden. These Queen of flowers always attract me. Standing in the middle of the rose garden with full of beautiful and colorful roses, I feel like I am in the heaven :) Here are some pictures of Roses which I had clicked last time when I was in Lalbagh.
This weekend Mango and Jackfruit called us back to Lalbagh which is holding "Mango and Jackfruit Mela - 2012". I was watching a local news channel and the news on Mango and Jacfruit Mela caught my attention. So decided to visit the mela once and buy delicious Mangoes and Jackfruit. My sister in law also happily agreed to join us. One of the main reasons to visit this mela is to buy chemical free fruits. Last year I had severe skin allergy and rashes on skin after eating chemical injected seadless jackfruit and doctor also had confirmed the same. It took almost a week for me to recover fully. Since then I didnt even touch Jackfruit and think twice before buying other fruits also. It is like inviting life threatening diseases by paying money. I really miss fresh and naturally ripened fruits and vegetables of my native village. So "Mango and Jackfruit Mela - 2012" provided a good platform for consumers to by chemical free fruits directly by farmers.
There were more than 100 stalls of Mngoes, Jackfruits and byproducts of these fruits like papad, pickle, juice etc. Most of the stalls were kept by farmers of Kolar district. Kolar is famous for Mango harvesting. One could see all varieties of Mangoes like Badam, Neelam, Sindhoora, Alphonso, Mallika, Malgoba etc.... varities in colors too...green, yello, greenish pink... wow ...it is a feast to eyes. Prices of these fruits in the mela were also cheap when compared to market prices as farmers were directly selling to consumers. No interference of agents here.
There was an exhibition on Mango and Jackfruit too. The purpose of this exhibition was to educate people on Mangoes and Jackfruits - their uses, health benefits, varities etc. Out of curiosity, I asked a stall keeper whether these fruits are really chemical free... He said lalbagh authorities will not give permission to keep the stall if they found these fruits are ripened by using chemicals. All fruits were tested to know whether they are free of chemicals. Thanks a ton to lalbagh for organizing this Mela.
Me and My sister in law baught kgs of different varieties of Mangoes. We have Mango Rasayana fest at our home next weekend. All are welcome guys :)
We were on the way to home after a tiresome day we spent in a mall. Suddenly my hubby stopped the car near Lalbagh Westgate, looked at me and smiled. I understood his intention and in next few minutes we were inside Lalbagh :) A few hours were left to dusk.Lalbagh - One of the main tourist attractions in Bengaluru is a famous botanical garden. Lalbagh has largest collection of Flora - Trees more than 100 years of old, a big Natural lake, an attractive Bonsai Garden, Aquarium, Glass House, Fountains, Kempegowda Tower etc covering an area of 240 acres. Lalbagh holds two flower shows in a year on Independence day and on Republic day. Lakhs of people visit during flower show. I will write about this flower show in my next post. Wikipedia says Lalbagh was originally commissioned by Hyder Ali the ruler of Mysore and later finished by his son Tippu Sultan in 1760.
Partial view of Glass house which holds flower show twice in a year
You call Lalbagh as Joggers Park, Lovers Spot, Birders Paradise, Picnic spot...everything holds true for this beautiful park. It wears a fresh look everyday. Though it was not my first visit to Lalbagh, everything appeared new to me.
Kempegowda Tower : We decided to spend some time near Kempegowda Tower which was built by Kemplegowda, founder of Bengaluru. This tower is on a huge rock which is on top of the hillock. It looks like a small temple. Bengaluru has four Kempegowda towers. This is one of them.
Kempegowda tower
Bonsai Garden :Then we decided to visit Bonsai Garden. Bonsai plants always attract me. These plants certainly have an oomph factor. I always wanted to have a bonsai plant in my house and wanted to learn the art of bonsai. But considering my busy life as I cant maintain them and cant give sufficient time to take care of them, postponig the idea of having Bonsai plants at my home. Entrance gate to the Bonsai garden is also very attractive. This 40 foot high gate is built in Chinese and Malaysian Pagoda style. This gate really stands out in this huge garden. Lalbagh Bonsai Garden is very beautiful. There are many bonsai plants which are more than 40 years old. Bonsai Garden has more than 1500 plants of different species. I was enthralled by seeing so many varieties of Bonsai plants at on place. This bonsai garden is recently opened and it certaily gave a royal touch to Lalbagh. Lalbagh also has many plants and trees which are native to different countries.
Pagoda style entrance gate to the Bonsai Garden
Lake :We moved towards lake. This is a natural lake with clean water and surrounding greenery reflecting into it. There is a neatly maintained path along the lake for morning walkers. This lake also has a small island in the middle. This lake is the source of water to those plants and trees in Lalbagh. You can also see birds like ducks, swans, geese, pelican etc in the lake.
A goose in the lake
Rose Garden :Sun was preparing to say bye to us. After spending some time near the lake we visited Rose Garden which is one of the attractions of Lalbagh. Rose Garden has an intoxicating beauty with colorful roses. This is neatly maintained. I felt like running towards those beautiful roses, touch and kiss them. But entry into Rose garden is prohibited.
Lalbagh has many other attractions apart from these.
Visiting Time : Lalbagh is open all days from 6 AM to 7 PM. Entry is free from 6AM to 7AM. There are direction boards everywhere for the benefit of visitors. It is clean and neatly maintained. Dont through garbage and plastics anywhere and spoil the environment. There are dustbins everywhere, please use them. You can see lovers in every corner of Lalbagh who are busy in romance. They will be in their own world making visitors to feel somewhat uncomfortable. Whatever ... Shhhhhh..........dont disturb them :)
One more attraction at the lawn area was the sand sculpture of former President Late Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. People were busy taking selfies with this sculpture. 
