Aam lovers unite at Delhi’s #MangoFestival

Despite rains in some parts of the city, hundreds of Delhiites were drawn to the aroma of mangoes at the annual Mango Festival organised by Delhi Tourism at Dilli Haat Janakpuri. The three-day-festival invited farmers and traders to display over 500 mango varieties, some with quirky names like makkhan, chamkili and laavaris, some resembling flavour profiles of strawberry, coconut, custard and some named after spices and sweets like mirchi, gulab jamun and anardana.


In its 33rd edition, the mango mela saw many visitors. Pinky Chawla, a regular, said, “Like every year I will be participating in the mango eating competition. Mujhe teen minute mein teen kilo aam khane ko milte hain. It’s fun.” Another visitor Nitika, says, “While safeda, chausa and langda varieties are easily available in the city, this festival allows you to enjoy new varieties. I bought a mixed bag of many new varieties including zafrani.”


Mango diversity on display
Tariq Mustafa, a seasoned mango grower and trader from Purqazi, who is showcasing 175 mango varieties, said, “We are the land of mangoes. Out of the world’s 1500 varieties, 1400 can be grown in India. It is important for the government to open more channels for the export of mangoes, as mangoes are India’s soft power. This time we have also brought aab-e-hayat (water of life) mango variety, uski mehak bahut khoobsurat hai.”
“Amrapali, chausa, totapuri, dusheri, safeda, langda are top mango varieties that Delhiites know and love to eat. They also get attracted to varieties like hathi jhool, toffee, mallika, chum chum, gulab khas” says Md Aleem, a trader from Muzaffarnagar. Md Aamir, another trader, said, “Rataul’s sweetness and mango toffee’s size makes people curious. They often ask about mangoes which look different like hathi jhool and chitla.”