Hyderabad: Hyderabad’s popular annual trade fair Numaish will be opened exclusively for women on Tuesday, January 10.
During the day which is termed ‘Ladies Day’, men and boys aged above 10 years will not be allowed inside Numaish.
In 1940, the day was started by the last Nizam of Erstwhile Hyderabad Mir Osman Ali Khan.
Earlier, every Tuesday used to be Ladies Day. However, seeing the drop in the number of visitors during the day, it was decided to dedicate only a single day during the entire annual exhibition.
45-day-long exhibition
This year, as many as 2,400 stalls have been set up on the Numaish Maidan in Nampally for the annual 45-day-long exhibition. Every day the exhibition will be open for visitors from 3.30 p.m. to 10.30 p.m.
The All India Industrial Exhibition Society (AIIES) has allotted stalls to traders and various business organisations from different parts of the country to sell their products at the fair.
The organizers have this year hiked the entry fee to Rs 40 from Rs 30 per head. In order to provide free Wi-Fi across the ground, society has tied up with BSNL.
History of numaish in Hyderabad
Numaish-e-Masnuaat-e-Mulki, or Numaish in short, made a humble beginning in 1938 as an event to promote locally-produced goods.
It was a group of graduates from Osmania University who came up with the idea of an exhibition to conduct an economic survey of the state.
The seventh Nizam of Hyderabad State, Mir Osman Ali Khan, inaugurated the first ‘Numaish’.
Enthused by the good response, it was decided to make it an annual event and use the earnings to promote education.
Beginning with just 50 stalls and a capital of Rs 2.50, it has today evolved into one of the biggest industrial exhibitions in the country.
Numaish could not be organized in 1947 and 1948 due to the turmoil in the aftermath of India’s Independence. With Hyderabad acceding to the Indian Union, the event bounced back in 1949.
The exhibition could not be held in 2020 due to the Covid-19 situation. This was only the third time in its history that it could not be held.
Last year, the Numaish was suspended a day after it was inaugurated by the state Governor in view of the curbs imposed by the government to check the spread of Covid-19. It was later organized from February 25.
Traders from various parts of the country set up their stalls during the exhibition, which is visited by 45,000 people every day. Over 20 lakh visitors visited the exhibition in 2019.
With inputs from agencies
