The Mysuru Dasara food mela at Maharaja’s College Grounds is drawing substantially more visitors than the book fair at Bharat Scouts and Guides Grounds, even as attendees complain that familiar dishes are being sold at premium prices.
The food mela has been attracting visitors from around 10 am, before its scheduled opening at 11.30 am, and remains busy until about 10.30 pm. The venue is less than a kilometre from the book fair, but the two events are seeing sharply different levels of public interest.
Stalls at the food mela are selling dishes including donne biryani and North Karnataka-style jowar roti meals. A jowar roti meal costs upwards of Rs 100, while pani puri is priced at least at Rs 50, compared with around Rs 30 to Rs 35 outside the mela. Tender coconut juice costs Rs 80 at the venue, against about Rs 50 elsewhere.
Stall owners have attributed the higher prices to increased raw material costs and the expense of renting and setting up stalls. Visitors, however, have asked organisers to introduce a mechanism to check what they describe as overcharging.
“The concept of a food mela is becoming outdated. Most items available here can also be found outside at lower prices and bearing the same taste, often from the same producers,” visitor Krishna Kumar told The Times of India.
The contrast between the two venues has made visitor demand a visible factor in how public festival spaces are being used. The food mela offers immediate consumption and familiar local dishes, while the book fair is relying on sustained interest in books and literary programming. The current response has favoured the former, according to the report.
The book fair recorded a particularly low turnout at one event on Thursday, which attracted around 20 visitors. Three booksellers said demand was concentrated mainly on works by popular Kannada authors, including SL Bhyrappa, Poornachandra Tejaswi and Ravi Belagere. Only a few stalls were receiving a moderate response, they said.
Publisher Abhiruchi Ganesh said business at the fair was gradually improving. Stall space has been provided free of cost, with sellers required to pay a refundable deposit of Rs 1,000. Ganesh said well-known publishers and government publication wings were doing good business.
He suggested that literary programmes, including Kavigosthi, could be organised at the book fair venue to improve footfall. The proposal points to a programming challenge for public fairs: providing space alone may not be enough to attract visitors without events that create a reason to stay and participate.
For the food mela, the immediate concern raised by visitors is price transparency. The report does not indicate that organisers have announced a formal pricing-control mechanism. The food mela and book fair will continue to operate as part of the Dasara programme, with food currently drawing the larger crowds.
