Udhagamandalam: A three-day ‘Spice Show’ was inaugurated at St Thomas English Secondary School in Gudalur on Friday as part of the summer festival – 2018. Nilgiris collector J Innocent Divya inaugurated the spice show, organized by the revenue and tourism departments.
A miniature of ‘Valluvar Kottam’, made of around 14 varieties of spices, was the crowd-puller of the show. The entrance arch made of various kinds of spices was another attraction at the show. According to the organizers, cultural programmes will be held on all three days of the show.
According to horticulture department, around 300kg of spices of various kinds were used to make the mini structures of ‘Valluvar Kottam’ and the entrance arch. The spices, bought from outside market, included clove, poppy seeds, pepper, nutmeg, cardamom, coriander and fenugreek.
The ‘spice show’ introduced in 2010 used to be a two-day show. However, in 2013, the district administration had made it a three-day event with cultural programmes as part of it.
Over 100 varieties of spices, including cardamom and pepper were on display. Spices are grown largely in Gudalur taluk in the Nilgiris and exported too.
A spice garden with an area of over 15 acres was set up in 2011 in the Devala horticulture farm near Gudalur. On last Saturday, a two-day ‘vegetable show’ was inaugurated at Nehru Park in Kotagiri in the Nilgiris. tnn