Shalimar Bagh, Srinagar

Shalimar Bagh is a Mughal garden in Srinagar, in the Kashmir region, on the north-east shore of Dal Lake. Emperor Jahangir built it in 1619 as a royal garden, and it is considered the high point of Mughal gardening. People also call it the Crown of Srinagar.

Water flows from the top of the garden to the bottom along a long central channel, through three terraces with cascades and fountains. A black-marble pavilion stands in the garden. Today it is a public park. Other Mughal gardens named Shalimar later followed in Lahore (1641) and Delhi (1653). Its terraces step down toward the lake.

Who made the garden?

Jahangir enlarged an older garden in 1619 and named it Farah Baksh, 'the delightful'. In 1630, Shah Jahan ordered the governor of Kashmir, Zafar Khan, to extend it, and it was renamed Faiz Baksh, 'the bountiful'. Jahangir and his wife Nur Jahan loved Kashmir so much that they moved their whole court to Srinagar for the summer at least 13 times, crossing the snowy Pir Panjal mountains on elephants. Shalimar Bagh was their imperial summer home.

The design

The plan follows the Persian garden idea, where four parts spread out from a central water source. In Kashmir the garden had to fit sloping ground, so a main canal called the Shah Nahar runs from the top to the lowest point, along the middle of three terraces. The water comes from a higher place and feeds the pools and fountains. After 1819 the garden became a pleasure place for the Sikh governors of the province.

On the globe

The model shows terraces stepping down along a central water channel with cascades, fountains and a black-marble pavilion.