♦ The best of Karnataka’s art, culture and cuisine was displayed at City Centre recently with the state’s tourism department putting up Karnataka Habba there. 

Habba means festival in the Kannada language and the mood was festive indeed. Stalls had come down from the southern state to sell handloom Mysore and Bangalore silk saris, the famed, fragrant sandalwood and Mysore sandal soap. The Coffee Board of India too sold coffee while emphasising that some of the best coffee in the country comes from Karnataka. 

Even though Karnataka wine wasn’t sold at the fair, its stall drew curious visitors. “Ours is the only state in the country to have a wine board,” said Sarvesh Kumar, general manager, Karnataka Wine Board. “Wine tourism is the latest fad among tourists. They are taken to vineyards to see wine processing, tasting, grape stomping as well as to a restaurant to wine, dine and learn about the food that wine compliments.”

The food stall was a hit too, selling Mysore Masala Dosa, the rice-based Bisebele Bhat and spicy Mangalore Chicken Curry. “My family went for a holiday to Karnataka in December and though we loved it, we had missed eating the famous Jowar Roti. I got to eat it here and it was delicious,” smiled Spiti Pramanik, a student of Class IX, stuffing her mouth with the corn-based roti and a piece of Mangalore Chicken Curry.”

There were also cultural programmes in the evening. Kumar Mardur, Hindustani classical music teacher at ITC Sangeet Research Academy, performed Kannada music and puja kunitha dancers, dressed in tiger skin-like clothing, danced with drums and cymbals. “This dance is dedicated to Chamundi, another form of Durga that is famous in our state,” smiled dancer K.P. Devraj. 

“Karnataka gets a large number of tourists from Bengal with September to February being the tourist season. Places like Mysore have always been tourist favourites but we also want tourists to visit sites like Hampi, which is a Unesco World Heritage Site. We have great scope for wildlife and eco-tourism too,” said Sathyavathi, director of the department of tourism, Karnataka. 

Book fair 

♦ A book fair, titled New Town Boi Mela 2016, is on at the clock tower plaza outside Home Town mall. Around 80 stalls have been set up selling books as well as clothes and jewellery. The fair is on till March 13 from 3pm to 9pm. 
 

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