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Beach bonding
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The Beach Festival was a mix of competition and seafood
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Photo: R. Eswarraj
SANDS OF TIME The beach festival definitely drew crowds
Charlie Chaplin had the best seat in the house. While scores on ground vied for a vantage position, Charlie Chaplin fluttered high, riding the cool breeze coming in from the Arabian Sea. The soaring figure of this unique kite flown by Team Mangalore
best typified the spirit of Beach Festival organised as part of the Karavali Utsav.
Dovetailed into the 45-day long Karavali Utsav organised by the Dakshina Kannada district administration, the Beach Festival brought people to Panambur beach. A series of activities over the weekend gave locals and visitors alike unique taste of not only local art and culture, but also its lip-smacking seafood, adventure sports and beach sports activities.
For people like Shivananda Channappa, a teacher from Gulbarga, a visit to the beach is a rarity. However, their trip to Panambur beach was made worthwhile by the beach throw ball and volleyball organised as part of the festival. Youngsters took on the Arabian Sea and excelled in the rather demanding mastering of the waves.Outback Adventures from Mysore and Sultan Battery Water Sports and Adventure Centre added the water sports angle to the event. While the ‘Zorb’, a large inflatable plastic ball brought by the Mysore team captivated the people’s imagination, the local water adventure club took people on a Banana Boat ride. ‘Zorbing’ is a favourite sport in New Zealand where Zorb is rolled down a hillside with people harnessed inside.
The resourceful troupe from the Mogaveera Vyavasthapaka Mandali lent the unique local touch to the seerfish (anjal), mackerel (bongade), and pomfret fry, squid (bondas), sukka prawns, clam curry, prawn biryani and prawn pundi. The smell of these delicacies being prepared wafted a long way across the sprawling beach.
Perhaps giving a further fillip to beach tourism, the potential of which has largely been under explored in this part of the State, was the sand carving competition and traditional ‘nadadoni’ race. The sturdily built mogaveera men not only battled the waves but also took on their peers in the boat race.
An important aspect of the event was the fact that National Service Scheme volunteers of a local college pitched in to leave the beach clean. The heartening fact is that even the planners have now woken to potential of the beaches in the area.
JAIDEEP SHENOY
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Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Madurai
Mangalore
Puducherry
Tiruchirapalli
Thiruvananthapuram
Vijayawada
Visakhapatnam
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