The Tulip Garden of Srinagar, Kashmir: A Picture Story
05/06/15 16:36:33
On the banks of famous and the most beautiful Dal Lake with the Zabarwan range of mountains as its background, the Tulip Garden of Srinagar, famously known as the Tulip Garden of Kashmir, is the ultimate in beauty and is like a fairy tale garden in its own right. The present day tulip garden was once a fruit orchard, but as the better part of Kashmir's economy is dependent on tourism, the idea of creating a tulip garden came into existence. The tulip garden is now eight years old, but already has made its place as the largest tulip garden in Asia. It is spread on 30 hectares of land out of which 18 hectares is developed and 7 hectares of the 18 are exclusively for tulips—enough to make one believe he/she is in the Garden of Eden.
The bulbs are imported from Holland and do more than well in the soil of Kashmir, which readers may witness from the photos. It is ensured every year that at least one million tulips are displayed for the tulip show, in which 95 varieties are on display and the sight is breathtaking with various colors. In the tulip garden, daffodils have also been housed next to tulips to enhance the beauty with their intoxicating fragrance. The tourist season begins in March and the tulips are in full bloom in April for the show. Let's also appreciate the labor force behind this exquisite beauty of blooms who work year-round to ensure the blooms stay for a month, due to which the garden is able to remain open for visitors for a solid whole month. There are over 130 workers to take an everyday task into account and the outcome is before us.
This was the picture story of The Tulip Garden of Srinagar, Kashmir. Talking further about this beautiful flower, it has already stolen hearts with its alluring beauty in Holland. It is also worth noting how dazzling colors and fragrances in nature attract us and inspire us to bring them to the world of art and then how art opens up doors to various arts and creates another story to tell.
From its cultural aspects, it is interesting to learn that tulip is Turkey's national flower and is called Lale in turkish. There's even a period in Turkish history, which was calledLale Devri or the "Tulip Era." It is believed that during this era, people were fascinated by this flower, and everyone was interested in tulip gardens, poems about tulips and anything that could well relate them to tulips. The Tulip Era between 1718-1730 is also marked as a prosperous and peaceful era. Turkey went through some progressive changes in the tulip era which promoted trade, education and the infrastructure.
Speaking more about tulips, Holland is no stranger, this land which is also sometimes affectionately called the “Flower shop of the world.” In the 16th century tulips were imported to Holland from Turkey, and became so popular that they began to show up in gardens, in shops, even in discussions and successfully made their way into festivals. The popularity wasn't just about paintings and festivals but it was rather huge—so huge that it created the first economic bubble which is also known as “Tulip Mania” (tulipomania). Today, when someone plans a vacation to Holland, the garden of Keukenhof, also known as the largest garden in the world, is always on top of the wish list of places to see.
All images: Imran Ahmed
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