Chandigarh Rose festival gets off to a colourful start

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Chandigarh, February 25

The much awaited 50th Rose Festival started at Rose Garden here amid pomp and show. The three-day festival was formally inaugurated by UT Administrator Banwarilal Purohit in the presence of Mayor Sarbjit Kaur Dhillon, UT Adviser Dharam Pal, DGP Parveer Ranjan, Home Secretary Nitin Kumar Yadav, Municipal Commissioner Anindita Mitra, Deputy Commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh, ITBP DIG Rajesh Sharma, Senior Deputy Mayor Dalip Sharma, Deputy Mayor Anup Gupta, area councillor Saurabh Joshi and prominent persons of the city and officers of the Administration and the Municipal Corporation (MC).

Addressing the gathering, the Administrator appreciated the efforts made by all MC employees and officers to make this festival a grand success. He said people from all walks of life could enjoy the arrangement of flowers and cultural items organised for all age groups.

He said though all flowers had a unique character and beauty, rose was one of the most popular flowers worldwide. It is known as the ‘Queen of Flowers’. In terms of literature, the flower has been glorified as a symbol of love, compassion and eternal beauty.

He said Rose Garden had been planned in such a way that a walk through it was like “reading a story”. He said the three-day Rose Festival was a way to pay tribute to the magnificence of roses and a mega celebration of nature.

The Governor said what made the Rose Festival unique was the high level of local public participation. Now that the city had some relief on the Covid front, he said he was happy that citizens could take joy in the Rose Festival and a variety of engaging events being organised by the Municipal Corporation. The Governor quoted lines from the poem, “Pushp ki Abhilasha” as a tribute to all bravehearts of the nation. The Mayor said to make the festival lively, new cultural activities had been arranged during the three-day event inside Rose Garden to cater to the visitors.

She said hundreds of varieties of rose in different hues decorating the landscape, breathtaking floral displays, innovative new designs and exotic exhibits were the high points of this flower show.

Earlier, the chief guest inaugurated a selfie booth and a swachhata stall at the garden.