Bagh-e-bahar: Asia’s largest tulip garden opens its gates to tourists
With 17 lakh flowers in a myriad of colours, Asia’s largest tulip garden, Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Garden, in Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) has opened its gates to tourists for the much-awaited Tulip Festival.
THE VALLEY BLOOMS
The garden, formerly known as Siraj Bagh, is ensconced between Dal Lake and Zabarwan Hills, opened its gates for visitors on March 23. The floriculture department officials informed that five new varieties tulips have been added to the existing 68 varieties. Moreover, the department has also increased the area of the tulip garden by adding another two lakh bulbs, resulting in a record-breaking 17 lakh tulip bulbs, planted over 55 hectares of land. And it’s not just tulips you will get to see, other spring blooms, such as hyacinths, daffodils, muscari and cyclamen, will also be on display, inform officials.
HISTORY OF TULIP GARDEN
The Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Garden was set up by then chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad in 2007 to advance the tourist season in Jammu and Kashmir, which was earlier limited to summers and winters. The garden started at a small scale with 50,000 tulip bulbs imported from the Netherlands. It instantly became a hit among tourists and has been steadily growing each year, both in terms of number of visitors and tulips that bloom here. More than 3.65 lakh visitors — domestic and foreign — visited the garden last year. The garden is also one of the favourite locations for shooting movies and videos as several film units from across the country have shot parts of their projects here last year.
FIVE NEW VARIETIES OF TULIPS HAVE BEEN ADDED TO THE EXISTING 68 VARIETIES AND A RECORD 17 LAKH BULBS HAVE BEEN PLANTED IN THE GARDEN THIS YEAR
VISIT DETAILS
Visitors can access the garden from 8am to 7pm, with daily timings subject to adjustments based on footfall. The entry fees was ₹60 for adults and ₹25 for children last year. The festival will be on till April 30.