After a gap of several years, the Besige Mela is back at the Karnataka Exhibition Authority (KEA) grounds at Doddakere Maidan in Mysuru.
Karnataka Exhibition Authority (KEA) Chairperson Hemanth Kumar told The Hindu that the exhibition, which used to draw crowds during the holiday season, had not been held since 2012 for various reasons.
“The Besige Mela had not been held for the last ten years due to various reasons including elections, rains or COVID-19. We decided to resume it from this year”, he said.
Though the mela was inaugurated on Wednesday, the KEA began collecting entry fee of ₹ 30 for adults and ₹ 20 for children only from Saturday. The exhibition will remain open from 3.30 p.m. to 9.30 p.m.
Apart from commercial stalls, food court and amusement park, the 45-day-long mela also features an art studio of 3D models of a variety of animals.
The Madagascar Art Studio is one of the main attractions. “There is no separate entry fee to the studio”, he said.
The visitors make a beeline to the art studio to not only watch the models of animals, which are programmed electronically to make certain movements, but also take selfies posing in front of them.
The art studio features a number of models including life-size and larger than life-size models of lions, zebras, giraffes, monkeys, penguins etc. The models have been prepared by artists, who set up sets for shooting of films, said Mallikarjun, who is looking after the studio.
The exhibition features about 75 commercial stalls with traders from different parts of the country selling items bedsheets, curtains, handloom items and handicraft items.
