Gardens of India

 Fascinating Alluring Enchanting No, you can’t resist the beauty! It’s for everyone to see!! The gardens of India!!!
The concept of garden in this country has been a gift of the Mughals, their Persian soldiers and courtiers. The first Emperor, Babar, introduced the gardening technique of Central Asia and Iran in India. The begums of the emperors also took keep interest in the gardens and shared the honour of creating famous gardens in Delhi, Agra, Punjab and Kashmir.

 Limitless in color and exquisite diversity, the impact of India’s natural heritage is overpowering. Flowers, shrubs and tree have from time immemorial been a part of the country’s culture. While trees and leaves have had significance in day-to-day life, flowers have been a part of the Indian psyche. Be it a festival, religious occasion, social gathering- one always says it with flowers.

 Each season displays the charm of the gardens to the hilt. Come spring and the gardens are in full bloom. Delhi’s Mughal Garden is breathtakingly beautiful during February- April. It is geometrically formed, the likes of which do not exist in the world any more. Divided in parts the water bodies form an important part of this garden with four fountains. The rectangular garden is flanked by two terrace gardens and also has a circular and a long garden. With an attraction of dahlias, quite a few hundred varieties of roses and more than 80 varieties of cannas, it is a riot of colors.

 The Capital’s Lodi Garden is very well laid out and excellent for a walk. Going round the garden, one can cover about four kms. Here the pathways are beautiful and flower-beds well done up. With nice canopy of trees, it is ideal for relaxing and is considered a good picnic spot. Other attractive gardens of Delhi are Nehru Garden, Buddha Jayanti Park, garden around monuments like Humayun’s Tomb, Safdarjung Tomb, Qutab Minar, Jamali Kamali mosque and many more.

To Ali Mardan Khan, one of the nobles of Shah Jehan’s goes the credit of designing the gardens in the Red Fort at Delhi and the Taj Mahal at Agra, which epitomize symmetry and atmosphere. Aram Bagh, also at Agra, is one of the first gardens to be laid out by the Mughals in the 16th century. Mardan Khan also introduced chinar tree in Kashmir from central Asia. Chinar leaves are now synonymous with Kashmir and the leaf design can be seen in their embroidery, carpets, wood-carvings and brass-work.