The flowering of a mega event

The flower show has been an evergreen presence in Thiruvananthapuram since the late 1940's

January 12, 2011 07:26 pm | Updated 07:26 pm IST

Blooms aplenly: Flower show 2011.  Photo: S. Mahinsha

Blooms aplenly: Flower show 2011. Photo: S. Mahinsha

Blooms abound once again at Kanakakunnu, the venue of the Flower Show 2011. As always, hundreds of flowers and plants, local and exotic, are on display at the fete, which has been attracting visitors in their droves now that it's back on home ground after a hiatus. Then again turning up for this annual floral spectacle is almost a tradition as far as we in the city are concerned. In fact, it's a tradition dating back to the 1940's when a small flower show used to be organised as part of an all-India exhibition held yearly to celebrate the birthday of Sree Chithira Tirunal, the Maharaja of erstwhile Travancore, recalls senior citizens.

Seeds of the show

But the flower show, this spectacle, as we now know it, is intrinsically linked to the formation of two societies – the Kerala Agri-Horticultural Society and the Kerala Rose Society. “The seeds of the flower show were sown with the formation of the Trivandrum Agri-Horticultural Society in 1945. The then dewan of Travancore C.P. Ramaswamy Iyer summoned a horticulturalist C.R. Lakshmi Varaha Iyengar from Mysore to set up a scheme to propagate floriculture and related activities in Travancore. Ramaswamy Iyer even allotted half an acre on the museum campus (then called the Public Gardens) for this purpose. The society was not open to the public and consisted only of government officials,” says K. Ravindran, a keen floriculturalist, who retired as Director of Museums and Zoos.

By 1953, under the presidency of Colonel Godavarma Raja, the society was renamed as the Kerala Agri-Horticultural Society with headquarters at Kanakakunnu, and in 1957 its bylaws were redrafted to include members of the public. The first major flower show was held in October 1958 at Kanakakunnu on a small scale. It soon became an annual feature on the city's social calendar with active participation of institutions such as Agricultural College, Vellayani, Secretariat Gardens, the Accountant General's office and so on and also well-heeled amateur horticulturalists like Town Hotel Sahadevan, Varikkattu Pothen, Subaida Marikkar and the like. “In those days most people did not have access to hybrids. The only rose that they knew of was the common ‘panineer' rose (Damask Rose). So it was quite the wonder to see different kinds of roses, dahlias and so on that were exhibited at these fetes,” recalls Ravindran.

It was this dearth of access to hybrids, especially hybrid roses, which set the ball rolling for the formation of the Kerala Rose Society in 1970, now headquartered at Observatory Hill. The society imported roses from across the country and abroad, gave saplings at a subsidised rate to its members and also provided them with trained assistants to help grow them. “From 1972 onwards an annual Rose Day was observed by the society at VJT Hall, with competitions in four classes – Hybrid tea roses, Floribunda (cluster roses), Miniatures and polyanthas and Standard roses – all open to the public,” says Hemalata Ramakrishnan, who has been a regular participant (and winner) since the initial days of the competition. She and another regular participant/winner, Saraswathy Varma, are now household names. “The Rose Day of 1973, especially, was a big hit with a lot of individual and institutional participation. In fact, the then Chief Minister C. Achutha Menon was passing by VJT Hall when he happened to see a large crowd gathered at there. He was curious enough to drop in for a surprise visit and he stood in the queue to see the displays! Observing the event's popularity, it was he who advised us to make it into a bigger spectacle,” reminisces K. Ramachandran, who was president of the society from 1973-76.

First mega show

Thus in 1974, both the societies decided to combine their efforts and hold a mega seven-day event titled ‘Flower, Fruit and Vegetable Show' at the Government College for Women. Needless to say it was a huge success. The first flower show featured varieties of seasonal flowers (such as marigolds and dahlias), roses, foliage plants, hibiscus, flowering shrubs and bonsais, to name a few. In addition there was an agricultural show that had special sections for bananas, fruits such as oranges, citrus, papaya (then not very common and sourced by the Department of Agriculture from areas like Nelliyampathy) and all kinds of vegetables. One of the fete's biggest attractions and the one that got the maximum participation (in the following years too) was the competitions for flower arrangements. “Homemakers, school and college students, office-goers were all once enthusiastic participants in these competitions. It was truly the city's fete: for its people, by its people,” says Ramachandran.

Nowadays competitions in floral arrangements are no longer held. Nor are their displays of now common fruits and vegetables. Instead their space has been occupied by flower arrangements by professional florists, stalls by nurseries and displays of ornamental fish. Some would argue that it's better than ever before. But as old timers would equivocally tell you those were the golden days of the flower show, when it was the city's show.

How Nishagandhi bloomed

T he 3,000 seat capacity open-air auditorium at Kanakakunnu that we now know as the Nishagandhi Auditorium was actually constructed by the Kerala Agri-Horticultural Society and the Kerala Rose Society in 1976, with Rs. 25,000 of the profit from the first mega flower show of 1974. Architect A.K. Jayachandran came up with the idea and the plan for the auditorium. Poet O.N.V. Kurup suggested the name for the venue. “He gave us two choices: ‘Vanajoltsna' and ‘Nishagandhi.' We chose the latter because it had a nice ring to it,” says K. Ramachandran.

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