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Indira Gandhi Tulip Garden

Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip garden was formerly called the Model Floriculture Centre. It is located at Sirajbagh in the famous Cheshmashahi garden in Srinagar. It is considered as the largest Tulip garden in the entire Asian continent with a growing area of approximately twelve hectares. The garden which is located at the foothills of Zabarwan Hills provides an excellent view of the popular Dal Lake.

The credit for visualizing and making the garden a reality goes to the former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Mr. Ghulam Nabi Azad. He transformed his idea into a reality in 2006-07 to provide an enhancement to the field of floriculture and promote better tourism in Srinagar and the entire Kashmir Valley.

Indira Gandhi Tulip garden is the largest tulip garden in the entire Asian continent and famous for its alluring atmosphere. The garden is spread across a vast area of approximately ninety acres. The garden is located at a distance of eight km from the Srinagar city. The garden is ideally located between many other tourist attractions of the city like Chashm-e-Shahi, Shalimar Garden and Nishat Garden. The responsibility of maintaining and up keeping the garden is vested with the floriculture department. In order to maintain the flowering season for the entire year, the garden is planted with 2.5 million bulbs of pansies, phlox, candy tuft and antirrhinum. The garden has emerged as the most prominent tourist destination for both the locals and the tourist coming from outside the state and country. You can find tulips in many of the colors in this garden. However, some of the popular colors which are loved by the tourists are magenta, red, blue, orange and white.

The commencement of the spring season begins with the blossoming of tulip flowers. The Indira Gandhi Tulip Garden is popularly known as the Siraj Bagh by the locals. The garden hosts the annual Tulip festival in April month. The duration of the festival is usually one week and this attracts many florists, agriculturists and tourists from across the world.

Tulip Festival 2012

The tulip festival usually contains 2 million tulips which make the complete garden a delight to the visitor. This garden is located at an altitude of approximately 5600 feet above sea level. The picturesque Dal Lake, Snow clad Zabarwan Mountain Range adds to the beauty of the garden. The Tulip garden is centrally located between the Chasm-E-Shahi garden and Nishat Bagh. There are other programmes and events organized to promote tourism during the tulip festival. The tourists can also savor the tasty authentic Kashmiri cuisine, shop for handicrafts and take a ride in a Shikara at Dal Lake. The year 2012 witnessed approximately 10000 visitors to the Tulip Festival.

About the Place

Indira Gandhi Tulip garden is ideally located in Srinagar amidst the picturesque locations of the Dal Lake and other scenic beauties. Srinagar is famous for its pleasant weather and this is the prime contributor to the growth of numerous flower and fruit varieties in the area. Srinagar is the capital city of the state of Jammu and Kashmir during the summer season.  King Pravarasen II is believed to be the founder of the city of Srinagar. Srinagar city is situated on the banks of Jhelum River. Some of the lakes which add to the beauty of Srinagar city are Dal Lake, Anchar and Nagin. Tourists can enjoy the exciting houseboat rides. Shikara ride with the picturesque views of the snow clad Himalayan ranges provides an excellent delight to the tourists. Srinagar is also famous for its historical importance. Some of the evidences which are excavated show the presence of primitive human population before 5000 B.C in the valley. The objects that validate these findings are pots, tools, arrowheads, implements and animal skeletons.

The beauty of Tulip garden was widely appreciated when the famous choreographer Saroj Khan shot a dance sequence with actors Priya Kapoor and Mukesh Bharti for her film Kaash Tum Houtay.

Point to Remember

The specialty of these flowers is that they bloom for only fifteen days annually. The actual period of the blooming is dependent on the temperature and can either take place before time or may be delayed. So, if you are keen to visit the garden, then keep a track of the annual festival dates which is likely to take place at the end of March month or in the first week of April.

How to Reach

By Flight

Srinagar city has a domestic airport. Several low fare airlines and the national carrier has regular flights from many of the Indian cities. There are scheduled flights to Jammu, Mumbai, Delhi and Chandigarh. The tourists planning to visit Srinagar can take a flight to New Delhi and then take a domestic flight to Srinagar. Indira Gandhi Tulip Garden which is located at Chashm-E-Shahi can be reached by hiring a taxi from the airport.

By Train

The nearest railway station to Srinagar is Jammu which is located at a distance of two hundred and ninety km from Srinagar. There are several direct trains running from prominent Indian cities like Bangalore, Trivandrum, Delhi and Chennai. You can either take a taxi or bus to reach Srinagar. Indira Gandhi Tulip Garden is located at a distance of 7.5 km from the main Srinagar bus stand.

By Road

Once you reach Srinagar, you can either take a taxi or check out with some tourist operators who arrange local trips in and around Srinagar. Please check whether the tour operator’s trip includes Indira Gandhi Tulip garden. 

Entry Fees

The entry fee to Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip garden is as follows:

  • Adults – Rs 50
  • Child- Rs 20

Best Time to Visit

The suitable climate for tulips growth is the winter months. Hence the ideal time to visit the Tulip garden is any time between October and April. However, if possible try to avoid the December and January month as these months are extremely cool in Srinagar.

Trivia

The garden has more than seventy varieties of tulips. This garden also hosts the Tulip festival annually in April month.

Timing

The timings of the garden are from 0900 Hrs to 1900 Hrs daily.

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