Kashmir: Srinagar

“Zame par agar koi Jannat Hai toh who yehi Hai yehi hai Yehi Hai”

I grew up listening to the above lines. The urge to visit the Jannat was always very strong. As I grew older along with the beauty I also understood the civil war and the effects, and the urge grew stronger.

Bollywood played a major part in making me drool over the photogenic locales and one of them being the song from Movie FANNA. Seeing the wooden cottage surrounded by knee-deep snow took my heart away also making the topmost desire on my wish list to visit one day. So when the trip was floated I jumped on the bandwagon. With a lot of trepidation took an early morning flight to Srinagar.

The Red Carpet welcome

As I landed at the sheik Ul-Alam international airport, the Runway lined with red Poopy flower beds on both sides set amidst a beautiful backdrop of the mountains welcomed us. With many security checks, I was on the way to our hotel. The city of Srinagar is the summer capital of J & K with the winter capital being Jammu. It’s interesting to know how the offices shift base half-yearly.

Guarded by soldiers I saw the street with less common men and more of them, giving a striking idea of my normal life.

Abundance in every way

Houses with slanting roofs with entrances covered with rose hedges was what caught my eyes the Kashmiri rose a local to the area. It stayed with me throughout the trip and made home in my heart. The rose which I longed for and purchase a stem, here they grew everywhere and in abundance. They were in a variety of color, size, and shape making me want to get down to pluck a few and carry along.

My hotel is located on a hill the view from the windows was just stunning. The landscape carved with Chinnar trees with iced capped Zabarwan ranges, the chill in the air, the hotel grounds blooming with a variety of flowers majorly roses I felt like a colorful Butterfly moving from one bloom to another.

Colors of the valley

The valley bears different colors in every season, like the white Blanket In winters and spring and summer it holds a vista of colors with a variety of blooms.

The Mughal Gardens

Visiting the Mughal Gardens was what I did today. Strolling through the Shalimar, Nishat, and Chasme Shahi gardens in Srinagar I felt Royal.

Royal as in Architecture, Style, Ideation, and Thought process, Demography, Colour vividity and couldn’t help sharing this.

India was ruled by the Mughals for decades and they left us with the legacy of unique and astonishing architectural style.

The amalgamation of Nature and shapes to create these intricate gardens in the Islamic Persian style is just intriguing. Today these are the most visited and liked.

The multipurpose terraces for waterfalls lined up with trees or flowerbeds with the loveliest rose and other variety of blooms with the most suitable climate in spring and summer are not only soul-soothing but a visual treat.

The Shalimar Gardens

The Shalimar Gardens on 12.4 hectares meaning the “Abode of love” was made by Jahangir for the love of his life “Noor Jahan”.

The butterfly now fluttering from one place to another in search of Nectar find these lines of AMIR KHUSRO inscribed on the topmost pavilion also known as the black pavilion.

“Agar Firdaus bar rōy-e zamin ast, hamin ast-o hamin ast-o hamin ast” meaning “Zame par agar kahi Jannat Hai toh who yehi Hai yehi hai Yehi Hai” perfectly resonating With my thoughts.

Intrigued with the use of water canals and the geometrical use of shapes and Flora to create a pattern these look beautiful. Standing on the topmost pavilion I get an aerial view of the Zabarwan and Pirpanjal mountain range along with the dal lake set like a pearl amidst them.

Nishat Bagh

I am on to my Next the Nishat Garden meaning the Garden of delight. With 12 terraces each representing the 12 Zodiac sign, a water canal running through its center is lined up with Cyprus and Chinnar trees.

An independent section for women with two-level patio lined with beautiful plantations is another thoughtful part of the gardens with a SALAM to the idea I move on. Thought and respect given to the then prevailing systems Chasme Sahi Garden.

Awed and lost in thought with fragrant memories now I am eager to visit the CHASME SHAHI GARDEN also known as the royal spring Garden. Being the smallest among the above, the Water from the spring below now connected to a fountain is said to have medicinal properties, and tourists are often seen filling the water from the spring.

Originating below a two-level Kashmiri-style hut, the spring flows through a watercourse in the first terrace, and as a waterfall in the second, and at last it flows as fountains. This is an exquisite example of Mughal architecture and Persian gardens.

DEKHA EK KHWAAB….to reality

Satiated with a day at the Mughal Gardens, I am on my to the Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip garden a floral paradise. The tulip garden is the largest in Asia. my mind reels through the song in the Bollywood movie SILSILA. Such was the Impact than that today a visit to make it really was a must. The healthy rows of Tulip blooms make a color full of sight and your heart sings… DEKHA EK KHWAAB and the KHWABBB comes to reality as the butterfly in me is full with nectar.

Mindfulness

I loved the blooms, Reds for their vivaciousness, the white for its serenity, and the yellow for vibrancy each flowering plant contributing as a food source to our Ecosystem. They not only bring beauty and fragrance but is a major source of nourishment that sustains life. Each one choosing to bloom at a different time but bloom they must adding color and fragrance to our life.

SRINAGAR in my mind and heart is always remembered by these amazing Mughal gardens and the hues of various blooms. I was so engrossed and lost in the Gardens the butterfly in me happy extracting my food the NECTAR forgetting to click many pics.

I have some pics of the blooms and a few I have borrowed from my dear Friend Ravi Choudhury.