Asia’s largest Tulip garden located on the foothills of Zabarwan in Srinagar is all set to open for the tourists from Sunday onwards, officials said.
The sprawling garden located near the banks of world famous Dal Lake with about 16 lakh colourful Tulip bulbs is likely to be inaugurated by the Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Sunday afternoon for the public.
This year four new Tulip varieties with a rainbow of colors - Cap knowya, sweet heart, hamilton and christmas dream- imported from Holland, will add to the charm of the garden, an official said.
The garden usually contains 68 colourful varieties of Tulip bulbs besides eye-catching flowers of daffodil, hyacinth, muscari, spring blooming shops besides plum, apricot, peach and Almond trees in the garden remain the eye-catching attractions for the visitors and the new four multicolored tulip varieties would raise the charisma of the garden.
A musical programme is also likely to be the part of the inauguration function tomorrow for the entertainment of the visitors.
Hundreds of gardeners worked tirelessly for months altogether at the Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Garden spread across an area of over 30 hectares and prepared it for the entertainment of the visiting tourists.
Though the tulip bloom remains for three to five weeks only but the ground staff has toiled very hard throughout the year to ensure that the quality of the bulbs is maintained year after year.
About 25 percent of the garden with more than a dozen colorful Tulip varieties have so far blossomed fully in the garden and if the weather remains favorable and temperature stays above 15 degree Celsius the Tulips would blossom fully and will represent the full glory of nature, they said.
Kashmir valley saw a record footfall of tourists from all across the world for the first time in decades last year and tulip garden was one of the major popular destinations for visit, it witnessed a record number of 3.60 lakh visitors including foreigners for the first time since the garden was put open in 2007.
To make the garden more attractive this year a water channel which was existing only in the middle of the gigantic garden had been extended to the top of the terrace. Besides, a number of fountains including a high rise one was erected at the top, making the environment look even more mesmerizing.
Wheelchairs have been made available for the specially abled people and senior citizens besides other facilities have been made for the visiting tourists.
Some green spaces have also been developed in the garden for the visitors to relax in the topography of mountains, green trees and astonishing Tulips and other attractive flowers.