With over 1.7 million tulips of 74 varieties, Asia’s largest tulip garden in Srinagar, Kashmir, is all set to be opened to the public from March 26. Hundreds of gardeners are working tirelessly to ensure the garden is in full bloom by the time of the opening.
With spring underway, the tulip garden, located below the Zabarwan Hills and overlooking the world-famous Dal Lake, looks no less than a floral wonderland. The Floriculture Department is also planning a Tulip Spring Festival in the month of April. The gardeners are making sure that most of the tulips bloom before the garden’s opening.
Asif Ahmad Itoo, Floriculture Officer, said, “Tulips have become a USP for tourism. The main aim of this garden was to advance the tourist spring season. We received many tourists last year, with around 4.65 lakh visitors, and this year we are hopeful that the numbers will substantially increase. Apart from tulips, we also have a very good collection of daffodils, hyacinths, and muscaris. This will give the tulip garden a vibrant look and a rainbow of colors, as tulip gardens have a rich history. As far as the quantity of tulips is concerned, this year we will have 1.7 million spring blossoms, including tulips. We welcome everyone to the spring festival and invite them to be part of this experience.”
Hundreds of gardeners and staff are working day and night to prepare the garden for the public. It takes around six months to get the garden ready, with extensive planning done much earlier before the opening. This year, the Floriculture Department expects to break all previous records for tourist footfall.
The tulip garden has become extremely popular among people from across India. Many travelers plan their visits to the valley during the tulip bloom. This year, the Floriculture Department has also planted other varieties of flowers, such as hyacinths, daffodils, muscaris, and cyclamens, to make the garden even more colorful.
Shakeel Ur Rehman, Director of Floriculture, said, “The tulip garden has been our USP for the last twenty years. It is Asia’s largest tulip garden, and people come to enjoy it. We have increased the varieties from 73 to 74 this year and expanded the green patches to balance it out. Last year, we had around 4.5 lakh tourists, and this year, with Ramadan finishing, we expect an increase of around one lakh visitors. It’s become a major attraction, and we have around 3,000 queries about the garden. I am confident that we will expand the garden, and the number of tourists will continue to rise.”
The garden was established in 2008 by the then-Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Ghulam Nabi Azad, with the goal of attracting more tourists to the valley during the spring season. Last year, the garden was included in the World Book of Records (London) as Asia’s largest tulip garden.
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