From Anarkali To Modi Mango: Over 1,000 Varieties Showcase At Mango Festival In Lucknow
Over 1,000 varieties of mangoes highlight heritage, innovation, and storytelling, and every fruit has a tale to tell.
Published : July 5, 2025 at 2:56 PM IST
Lucknow: A three-day Mango Festival 2025 is currently underway here in Uttar Pradesh. Over 1,000 varieties of mangoes, highlighting heritage, innovation, and storytelling, are on display at the festival.
The event not only celebrates the flavour and fame of the ‘king of fruits’ in the land of Awadh but also the fascinating names given by the farmers. From mangoes with medicinal value to those named after legends and local villages, every fruit here has a tale to tell. Some of these even give political tributes, like the ‘Modi Mango’ and ‘Yogi Mango,’ special varieties that are at the centre of discussion at this year’s festival.
Gardeners and mango producers from districts like Prayagraj, Banaras, Mirzapur, and Saharanpur are also participating in the exhibition with their rare varieties, with over 600 indigenous varieties of Lucknow alone registered their presence.
Haji Kalimullah, a mango producer popularly known as ‘Mango Man,’ told ETV Bharat that this year he has developed a new mango species named ‘Yogi Mango’ in the name of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
“This variety is special in many ways. Each mango weighs about one kilogram with soft pulp and an amazing taste. Its seed is also very small,” he said. “The way the Yogi Ji got the government land released from the land mafia is inspiring. With the same spirit, this species has been dedicated to him.”
Kalimullah has produced special types of mangoes named after politicians on several occasions before. Previously, he had prepared dozens of varieties, including 'Modi Mango' in honour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, 'Amit Shah Aam' in honour of Home Minister Amit Shah, 'Rajnath Aam' in honour of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, 'Akhilesh Aam' in honour of Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav, and 'Mulayam Aam' in memory of late SP patron Mulayam.
Unique mango varieties
The mango named ‘Anarkali’ has also become a centre of attraction in the exhibition. Kalimullah said this variety has two peels, with two different tastes.
“I try to avoid using pesticides for the production of mangoes because the delicacy and quality of mangoes are being affected due to excessive use of pesticides,” he said.
“When we were young, no pesticide was ever applied on the trees, and there was an abundance of mangoes, but today there are fewer mangoes and more poison on the trees,” Kalimullah said, appealing to the government to control the use of pesticides.
Another speciality of Kalimullah is that he has grown more than 300 varieties of mango on a single tree, for which he was awarded Padma Bhushan.
“Mango is not just a taste; it is also a medicine. It does not increase sugar; rather, some varieties help in controlling sugar,” he claimed.
Modi Mango, the identity of Desi taste
Upendra Kumar, a gardener who created ‘Modi Mango,’ said that the mango is long in shape, weighs 500 grams, and is yellow when ripe. “It is very rich in taste and aroma. Nowadays, there is a plethora of foreign varieties of mango, but they do not taste like Modi Mango and other desi mangoes,” he said.
Kumar said that the conservation of desi varieties was necessary. “Rare mangoes like ‘Haathi Jhoom’ are now confined to books. The fragrance of ‘Dukhman Aam’ is still in the memories, but its trees have become rare now,” he said.
Mango for sugar patients too
It was also told in the exhibition that some special varieties are also safe for sugar patients. ‘Tommy Atkins,’ which is an American variety of mango, is considered sugar-free. Its glucose level is very low, but it tastes great.
Satya Prakash Yadav from Amethi said that he had seen such big mangoes for the first time. “Each mango weighs over two kilograms. We had never imagined that there were so many types of mangoes. Children also showed a lot of enthusiasm for seeing the variety of mangoes,” he said.
CM honoured orchardists.
On the first day of the Mango Festival on Friday, ten farmers were selected from the mango producers who came from all the districts of the state. One of them was Yogendra Singh Gangwar, of Farrukhabad.
District Horticulture Officer Raghavendra Singh said that Yogendra Singh has a mango orchard in an area of 2.0 hectares in which he produces varieties like Dussehri, Amrapali, Chaunsa, and Mallika using new techniques and stores them in boxes prepared by the Indian Institute of Packaging Institute and sells them in local markets of Etawah, Mainpuri, and Agra, as well as in other states outside the state like Rajasthan (Jaipur), Madhya Pradesh (Indore), and Azadpur Mandi, Delhi, etc. CM Yogi honoured him with a citation for his excellent work.
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