Asia's largest tulip garden opened for the public on Wednesday, March 26, and was inaugurated by the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. The Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Garden, earlier known as Siraj Bagh, is located between the foothills of Zabarwan Mountain and Dal Lake.
The garden opens for tourists every year for 20 to 30 days when the tulips are in full bloom. It is a popular tourist attraction in Srinagar and attracts lakhs of people from across the country every year. The garden was set up by Ghulam Nabi Azad, the then chief minister of the erstwhile state in 2007 to advance J-K's tourist season which was earlier limited to the summers and the winters.
The Floriculture Department plants tulip bulbs in a phased manner so that the flowers remain in bloom for a month or more. This year, the department has added two new varieties of tulips to the garden. A new colour scheme has been introduced this year, and the total number of varieties of tulips and other flowers has risen to 74.
The officials said that nearly 17 lakh tulip bulbs have been planted in the garden that spreads over 55 hectares. The extension of the garden has reached almost its full capacity, they said.
The garden started on a small scale with 50,000 tulip bulbs imported from The Netherlands. It instantly gained popularity among tourists and has been steadily growing each year, both in terms of the number of visitors and the tulips that bloom.
More than 4.65 lakh visitors, both domestic and foreign, visited the garden last year while the footfall in 2023 was 3.65 lakh.
Tulip Garden Kashmir Ticket Prices, Timing
You will need a ticket to enter the garden. Adults will have to pay Rs 75 per person. Children between 5 and 12 years will have to pay Rs 30. All of these prices are inclusive of GST. The garden will be open from 09:00 AM to 07:00 PM every day.
Abdullah who inaugurated the Tulip Garden took to X (formerly Twitter) to share details. He wrote, "After more than a decade I was back at the Tulip Garden in Srinagar to officially throw it open to visitors. Over the next few weeks thousands of people are expected to visit Asia’s largest tulip garden and enjoy the riot of colour."
The inaugural day saw an overwhelming response from tourists and locals alike who marvelled at the mesmerising floral expanse.
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