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Ram temple , Panchvati replicas major attraction at Kisan Mela
The CSIR-NBRI set up its Ram temple made of 70 kg flowers while the CSIR-CIMAP set up a replica of Panchvati that drew a large crowd for selfies and photos. The Panchvati replica showcased the institute’s five medicinal and herbal plants, as well as Ram cutouts, monkey and deer cutouts and a scene from the jungle portraying Ram’s 14-year exile.
LUCKNOW : The second season of Kisan Mela was drenched in Ram fervour, with a number of religious stalls, including replicas of the Ram temple and Panchvati. To add to the participating farmers’ joy, chief minister Yogi Adityanath also invited them to Ayodhya.
The CSIR-NBRI set up its Ram temple made of 70 kg flowers while the CSIR-CIMAP set up a replica of Panchvati that drew a large crowd for selfies and photos. The Panchvati replica showcased the institute’s five medicinal and herbal plants, as well as Ram cutouts, monkey and deer cutouts and a scene from the jungle portraying Ram’s 14-year exile.
CM Yogi also inaugurated an exhibition at the fair and inspected the stalls , while interacting with the farmers from more than 15 states participating in the fair.
Eight women farmers from the Tharu tribe in the Dudhwa region of state also participated in the Kisan Mela and said they were cultivating lemon-grass and mentha in their village. Over 150 such women are part of the ethnic group of indigenous people living in the Terai region on the Indo-Nepal border of Uttar Pradesh .
Sunita Singh Dhawan, senior principal scientist, CSIR-CIMAP, said that earlier they were into traditional farming but mentha and lemon-grass cultivation added to their income.
Pandian, a farmer from a village near Madurai in Tamil Nadu, set up a stall of home decor and aromatic material like vetiver, also called khus, a perennial bunchgrass. Interesting things such as garlands, baskets, bottle bags, car diffusers, fan, room freshener and body scrubber etc were available at the stall, the price ranging from ₹50 to 1000 . Pandiyan said he started cultivating vettiver a few years back. “While the oil extracted from it is used in fragrance industry, its roots are used in making home decor and diffusers as value addition products. There are around 50 women associated with me ,” he said.
