Srinagar: Preparations are in full swing at Asia’s largest Tulip Garden, nestled between Dal Lake and Zabarwan Hills, ahead of its annual opening later this month, officials said on Thursday.
The garden, formerly known as Siraj Bagh, will be open to visitors later this month when the tulip bulbs start to bloom. The Floriculture department plants the tulip bulbs in a phased manner so that the flowers remain in the garden for a month or more.
Asif Ahmad, Assistant Floriculture Officer of the Tulip Garden, said the preparations for the garden’s opening this year were in full swing. “This is an important tourist attraction. It will be opened for visitors in the coming days,” he said.
Officials mentioned that workers and employees of the department were busy giving the garden its final touches.
Ahmad said the department had added two new varieties of tulips to the garden this year.
“We try something new for the tulip garden every year. We are coming with a new color scheme this year. We have added two new varieties of tulips, bringing the total number of varieties to 74,” he added.
The officer also mentioned that other spring flowers, such as hyacinths, daffodils, muscari, and cyclamens, would also be on display to add variety to the garden’s colors and flowers.
About 1.7 million tulip bulbs have been planted in the garden, which spans 55 hectares of land.
“We have 1.7 million bulbs this year, and the tourists will be able to see them bloom. The extension of the garden has almost reached its full capacity,” he added.
The Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Garden was established by then-Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad in 2007 to extend the tourist season in Jammu and Kashmir, which was previously limited to summers and winters.
The garden started on a small scale with 50,000 tulip bulbs imported from Holland. It quickly gained popularity among tourists and has steadily grown each year, both in terms of the number of visitors and the tulips that bloom there.
More than 4.65 lakh visitors, both domestic and foreign, visited the garden last year, while in 2023, it saw a footfall of 3.65 lakh people.
“Last year, 4.65 lakh visitors came to the garden during its short window of 25 to 30 days. This year, we hope the numbers will exceed last year’s. We extend our invitation to people from across the country and abroad to come here and witness this flower extravaganza,” Ahmad added.
