The largest tulip garden in Asia and one of the most popular tourist attractions in Jammu and Kashmir, the tulip garden in Srinagar is known by the name Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Garden. Here are 15 important things you should know before you visit this place.
- The tulip garden in Srinagar, Kashmir, is located on the foothills of Zabarwan Range and it provides a view of the beautiful Dal Lake. Nishat Bagh and Chashma Shahi Garden surround it from three sides.
- This garden spans an area of 74 acres. It has been constructed on a sloping ground in a terraced manner and consists of seven terraces. This structure gives the tulip garden a striking appearance. Each terrace has a different variety of tulips. Each flower bed is about 80 m long and 1 m wide.
- Earlier, this garden was called the Model Floriculture Center, and originally, it was known as Siraj Bagh.
- The tulip garden in Srinagar was inaugurated in 2007 by the former Chief Minister Gulam Nabi Azad. It is owned by the government of Jammu and Kashmir and operated by the Department of Floriculture.
- It was the first largest landscaping project that the government undertook, after the 16th century gardens built by Muslims.
- Wondering how many tulips are there in the tulip garden of Srinagar? You will be amazed to know that this garden houses around 1.5 million tulip bulbs of various colours and includes 65 varieties of tulips. They were brought from the Keukenhof tulip gardens in Amsterdam. Apart from this, there are 46 other flower varieties which include daffodils, hyacinth and ranunculus. They were brought from Holland.
- In the garden you will find red, orange-, yellow-, mauve-, and purple-coloured tulips as well as several other multicoloured hybrid varieties. Even the shapes of the flowers are distinct. Some flowers are hemispherical while some are elongated. Some flowers have scattered petals while some have loose and upward flowing petals.
- What is the best time to visit the tulip garden in Kashmir? It is best to visit the Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Garden in March-April. You should visit Srinagar in the first two weeks of April if you wish to attend the tulip festival.
- Tulip festival is organized every year at the beginning of the spring season in the Kashmir Valley. This festival is an effort by the Jammu and Kashmir government to promote tourism to the valley. The highlight of this festival is witnessing the wide range of flowers in the garden. Stalls that serve Kashmiri food and display Kashmir’s handicrafts are also put up to entertain the visitors.
- What are the timings of Tulip Garden, Srinagar? The garden is open from 9 am to 7 pm on all days of the week.
- The tulip garden ticket prices are INR 50 for adults and INR 25 for kids.
- How to visit the tulip garden in Kashmir? You could use local transport or private or shared taxis from the airport. The distance between Sheikh Ul-Alam International Airport in Srinagar and the Tulip Garden is about 18 kms. From Jammu Tawi or Udhampur railway station, it takes about 30 minutes to reach the garden by taxi.
- If you are visiting the tulip garden in Srinagar, you could also visit some other good tourist spots in the vicinity. Pari Mahal is one such place which is at a walking distance from the garden. The very famous Dal Lake is also close by and can be visited during your visit to the tulip garden. Another attraction is the local market near the garden, with shops selling Kashmiri shawls, rugs, handicrafts and dry fruits.
- At the Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Garden in Srinagar, you will see a splash of colour and witness millions of brilliantly blooming tulips. The parallel running rows of multi-coloured flowers together look like a rainbow, and watching these blooms is a treat to the eyes.
Visiting this picturesque tulip garden in Srinagar is indeed a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It’s not without reason that this garden attracts a large number of travellers across the globe.
