Although this Kashmiri saying signifies relief after adversity, it perfectly fits, in a literal sense, with the tulip garden’s opening and heralding spring.
Located at the base of Zabarwan hills in Srinagar, the awe-inspiring mountain range bordering the central part of Kashmir, Asia’s largest tulip garden was opened to visitors on Wednesday.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah inaugurated the garden.
Sporting traditional Kashmiri pheran, the Chief Minister visited the vast garden and interacted with several tourists.
The government had already given wide publicity to the opening ceremony, with local broadsheets plastering with front-page advertisements announcing the event.
Featuring over 1.7 million tulips of 74 varieties, the well-manicured garden bursting with a riot of colors is expected to attract a record number of victors. Flowers such as hyacinths, daffodils, muscari, and cyclamen are ready to welcome tourists.
On the first day of the opening, both local and outstation tourists were seen standing in serpentine queues to enter the garden.
“I have seen such a garden in Europe. It is really a great feeling to have such a vast garden here”, said a group of Karnataka-based tourists —all bundled up in woollens.
Last year, more than 4.6 lakh tourists visited the garden, compared to 3.7 lakh in 2023 and 3.6 lakh in 2022.
An official told businessline that online tickets had been made available for visitors for the first time.
“We have introduced a QR based ticketing facility at a few locations including the Airport”, he said.
The official said they were expecting a record number of tourist arrivals this season.
The Garden
The garden, spanning over an area of around 74 acres, was established by former Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad in 2007, when militancy was still a major concern, to boost the region’s tourism sector. Thousands of tulip bulbs were imported from the Netherlands for setting up the garden.
In 2014, the World Tulip Summit Society declared it the world’s second-best garden.
Each year, hundreds of gardeners beavered away for several months ahead of the garden’s opening.