Mangaluru: The district administration organized a two-day children’s festival, “Makkala Habba”, at Pilikula Nisargadhama here, on November 21.
The programme began with a procession, with more than 2000 children dressed as freedom fighters marching from the entrance of Pilikula. The entire venue of Pilikula had turned into a mini wonderland.
National award winner Panchami Maroor inaugurated the Makkala Habba by releasing balloons in the air, simultaneously blowing of the whistle by deputy commissioner A B Ibrahim signalling the festival open.
Speaking to mangalorean.com, Panchami said, “I am very much delighted to inaugurate Makkala Habba. It is an honour for me to be a part of this wonderful festival. Nowadays, children do not get time for entertainment. Such festivals should be organised every year so that the children can mingle with each other and make new friends.” She also congratulated the district administration for organizingthe “Makkala Habba”.
Speaking on the occasion, minister Ramanath Rai said that children are equal to God. “They do not have enmity, anger or revenge in their minds, unlike some anti-social elements in the society who are trying to spoil the peace. We cannot win over anyone with anger or enmity. Our minds should be clean like those of the children. Today, we are very happy to see the huge response for Makkala Habba. We will continue to hold the Makkala Habba every year.”
Speaking to the mediapersons, DC Ibrahim said that in this competitive world, parents want their children to score full marks. “Even the teachers also make the children study hard all the time to get 100 percent marks. In this process, children are deprived of participating in extracurricular activities. Communal fights occur every now and then in the district and this further affects the children. To divert their minds and entertain them, we have organised the Makkala Habba. So far more than 30,000 children have participated in this festival,” he added.
A record number of 43000 children including teachers, parents and public took part in the Makkala Habba out of which 22000 children are from DK district, 9000 children from other districts, 7000 teachers and 5000 public.
Minister Abhaychandra Jain, Pradeep Kumar Kalkura, Prabhakar Sharma, Dr Jayaprakash Bhadary and others were also present.
Mangaluru: Spectacular Children’s Festival ‘Makkala Habba’ Kicks off at Pilikula Nisargadhama – Album
