Asia’s largest Tulip garden nestled on the foothills of Zabarwan hills here was thrown open for public, marking the beginning of new tourism season in Kashmir region.
Advisor to Lieutenant Governor Baseer Khan declared the garden open in presence of a large number of tourists, who had come from different parts of the country besides locals.
Last year, Tulip garden could not be opened for the public as the central government imposed lockdown after the outbreak of COVID19.
“J&K UT is famous for its mesmerizing beauty across the globe. Tulip garden adds to the beauty of Kashmir. Earlier, tourists visiting Kashmir were confined to Mughal Gardens only, but now Tulip garden is their first preference. You can see on the very first day of opening of Tulip garden, there are a lot of domestic and foreign tourists present,” Khan said after declaring the garden open for public.
He said that currently there is only 25 per cent Tulip bloom and till April 3, the garden will be in full bloom.
He said the J&K administration has undertaken a new project at the cost of Rs 10 crore in the backside of the garden to add more beauty to it. “That is the phase-2 of the Tulip garden. There will be a cherry garden and other attractive trees and flowers in the backside of the garden that will be an added attraction,”
As soon as the garden was thrown open, hordes of tourists and locales thronged the majestic Tulip Garden. Tourists were busy taking pictures in the garden which houses over 1.5 million tulips of 64 varieties.
“It is a dream come true for me, last year I had also planned to visit Kashmir at the time of Tulip season but due to COVID, we had to cancel our plan. But this year I feel lucky to visit this place on the very first day of reopening,” said Sushma, a tourist from Orissa. She was accompanied by her family members who too were mesmerized by the beauty of Kashmir.
Apart from tourists, locals too thronged the garden to enjoy the beautiful sunny day amid the tulips. “Tulip garden never fails to impress. I love to visit this garden whenever it remains open,” said Ajaz Ahmad.
Spread over 30 hectares, the idea of the garden was conceived to advance the tourism season in Kashmir by two months.
The aim of setting up the largest Tulip garden in Asia was to give another choice to tourists besides advancing the tourism season, which used to begin in May every year. The garden has been a success story with thousands of tourists thronging it every year during the three weeks of its bloom.