Ooty flower festival begins with grand floral heritage themed displays

The annual Flower Festival in Ooty commenced on Monday with vibrant floral exhibits, large-scale heritage-inspired installations and colourful landscaping arrangements, marking the beginning of one of Tamil Nadu’s most popular summer tourism events.
Held at the Government Botanical Garden in the Nilgiris district, the festival is expected to attract thousands of tourists from across the country and overseas over the next 11 days. The event remains a major highlight of Ooty’s summer tourism calendar, drawing visitors to the hill station known for its cool climate, green valleys and scenic landscapes.Tourist footfall has risen sharply across the Nilgiris region as travellers arrive to experience the summer festivities and explore popular attractions in and around Ooty and Coonoor.The district administration traditionally organises a series of summer events every May to promote tourism in the hill region. However, due to this year’s election-related schedule, only a few major programmes are being conducted, including the Flower Show, Rose Show and Fruit Show,according to information.
The Rose Show at the Government Rose Garden, has emerged as a crowd-puller with intricate floral arrangements crafted using nearly two lakh roses. A specially designed bird-shaped floral structure has become one of the most photographed attractions at the venue.The renowned 128th Flower Show at the Government Botanical Garden will continue until May 28 and is being inaugurated by Nilgiris District Collector Lakshmi Bhavya. Organisers said this year’s edition includes several imported flower varieties and rare ornamental plant species cultivated exclusively for the exhibition.
Flowering varieties such as Geranium, Cyclopin, Balsam, Oriental Lily, Pansy, Marigold, Zinnia and Telmunium have been showcased across different sections of the garden. According to information close to one million flower saplings have been planted, while over 50,000 flower pots displaying multi-coloured blooms have been arranged throughout the venue.One of the key attractions this year is a floral replica of the entrance facade of Chennai Central Railway Station, created using more than one lakh carnations and other flowers to celebrate Tamil cultural heritage.The exhibition also features 26 large floral models representing iconic cultural and historical landmarks, including the Nilgiri Mountain Railway engine, the Mamallapuram temple complex and the famed temple chariot of Thiruvarur.
In another major attraction, decorative floral installations inspired by the five ancient Tamil landscapes have been created using more than seven lakh flowers, adding a cultural dimension to the event.To manage the anticipated tourist rush, authorities have arranged additional transport services, declared a local holiday across Nilgiris district and deployed nearly 200 police personnel for security and crowd management during the festival period.