Immerse yourself in a sea of tulips this summer

Spring has sprung in Kashmir. The bleak black and white of winter has given way to a burst of colours – and the place to be now to behold a mood-altering spectacle is Asia’s largest tulip garden in the foothills of the Zabarwan mountains overlooking the Dal Lake in Srinagar. 

There is no stopping flowers when they bloom, blossoms when they burst. 

How about 1.6 million tulip bulbs of 72 varieties grown on 74 acres of lined beds on sloping terraces, either blooming or ready to bloom? 

All these bulbs are expected to yield about 1.6 million tulips this year and from end-March to mid-May, the Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Garden will remain awash in a rainbow of colours. 

Each colour and each flower embody the hard work of a small army of gardeners, such as Shabir Ahmad who rides an old, squeaky bicycle every morning from his home to the garden 6 km away. He and fellow gardeners have been labouring on their work round the year, come rain, sun, or snow. 

“It’s hard work. You have to be nuts about this job to do it. It’s not for everyone. I spend more time here than at home. But there’s a satisfaction that comes with doing something that brings joy to people and to yourself. To see blossoms on each plant you tended so lovingly,” said the 48-year-old who has been in the garden’s staff rolls these past eight years.

The most rewarding moment for these indefatigable gardeners – reporting each morning with their lunchboxes and tools – is the annual tulip festival, this year from March 20 to April 20. 

Garden of Eden in paradise

The picturesque Kashmir Valley has been known all along as “paradise on earth”, and the tulip garden nestled in a strip between the mountains and the Dal can be best described as its Eden.  

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Known before as Siraj Bagh, it was renamed after former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 2007. That year, the garden opened its gates to an eyeful of tulips grown successfully in the Himalayan landscape after being shipped from the Netherlands, their native home. 

The first tulip festival was held the same year and it has been heralding spring and the tourist season since then.

It holds the record of growing the highest number of tulips. Also, the garden offers a rich bouquet of daffodils, hyacinths, and ranunculus among about four dozen species of flowers that amplify the visual treat and tapestry.

The floriculture department has added four more varieties of tulips this year, taking the total to 72, said Dr Inam, who’s in charge of the garden. 

“We sow the bulbs in November and the plants need a lot of care from December onwards. Pruning, weeding, and clearing the snow. Fungicides are sprayed periodically from February. The process continues when flowers are in bloom,” said Shaiq Rasool, deputy director of floriculture.

Early autumn, the bulbs are plucked out from the fields, cleaned, sorted, fumigated and stored in a cold storage till the next sowing period. The garden staff do a wonderful job, Rasool said. 

Tulips bloom, tourism booms

The must-go, must-see garden opened its gates on March 24 this year to let people tiptoe through the tulips, hyacinths, daffodils and myriad other flowers meticulously hand-planted throughout its manicured lawns. Among the visitors were tourists from across the country and a few from abroad. 

The tulip garden has brought forward Kashmir’s tourist season, the mainstay of the region’s economy, by at least two months, said Ishfaq Ahmad, who teaches economics in the University of Kashmir. 

The Union territory has been recording a tourist surge lately after years of political uncertainty pushed the tourism industry into a downward spiral. More than 2.4 million tourists visited Kashmir in 2022, according to official data.

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The garden’s first day of open season saw small groups scattered around the lawns, taking photos and selfies with one of its most iconic products – the tulip. The garden is open from 8am to 7pm, and anyone is welcome with a ticket, available at Rs 60 for an adult and Rs 25 for each child.

“This is my third visit and I was floored by the beauty of the tulips each time. It’s like Netherlands in Kashmir,” gushed Rohini of Mumbai, amid “ooohs” and “aahs” as she and her husband couldn’t get enough of the sight and smell.

Early birds are lucky to have the garden all to themselves. Its paths will be chock-a-block with people during the festival, when programmes showcasing Kashmir’s rich cultural and culinary heritage are held. 

To get a plate of Nader Monjje – a Kashmiri treat of lotus stem fritters – without having to wait in a long line will be impossible. But wait, no one minds a queue after a walk through the tulips in such beautiful weather.

The lead image at the top shows tulips blooming in Indira Gandhi Tulip Garden in Srinagar

Nasir Yousufi is a journalist based at Srinagar.