Mughal gardens' design draws from vision of paradise, say experts

'A typical Mughal garden draws inspiration from the Persian Charbagh...portrays the vision of 'jannat' (heaven),' an expert said

Exquisite geometrical patterns, pools and charming fountains nestled amid scented stocks of flowers, which is typical of every Mughal garden's design, is derived from the Persian Charbagh which attempts to depict the vision of paradise, according to experts.

A Charbagh is based on Persian architectural design and features canals and pools along the axes, which divides a garden into four equal parts, and has fountains and waterfalls to add to the aesthetics.

Exquisite gardens were built in numerous cities of yore in the Indian subcontinent and their designs were perhaps refined during the Mughal period which lent them the nomenclature, according to historians.

Some of the famous such gardens are -- the Mughal gardens of Kashmir, the gardens of Humayun's Tomb in Delhi, the gardens of the Taj Mahal in Agra, and the Shalimar Gardens of Lahore -- the last three being parts of UNESCO World Heritage sites.

The centuries-old Yadavindra Gardens or Pinjore gardens in Haryana are built in the style of Mughal gardens.

The celebrated Mughal Gardens of Kashmir -- Nishat Bagh, Shalimar Bagh, Achabal Bagh, Chashma Shahi, Pari Mahal and Verinag -- are jointly in the Tentative List of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites, added in 2010, according to the UNESCO website.

Read | Another Mughal Garden renamed in capital, this time at DU

"A typical Mughal garden draws inspiration from the Persian Charbagh that has water channels running in two axes that cross each other and divide a garden into four equal parts broadly. It portrays the vision of 'jannat' (heaven)," says Delhi-based historian and author Swapna Liddle.

The Mughals refined them and built several of them during their rule in the Indian subcontinent, and hence they came to be popularly referred to as a Mughal garden.

Over a period of time, many gardens were built in the modern era, drawing inspiration from the Mughal gardens, including the sprawling one on the western side of the Rashtrapati Bhavan (originally Viceroy's House), designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens that came to be known as Mughal Gardens.

Lutyens had finalised the design of the gardens as early as 1917. However, it was only from 1928 to 1929 that plantings were done. His collaborator for the gardens was the Director of Horticulture, William Mustoe.

The resplendent Mughal Gardens, a horticultural paradise in the sprawling premises of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, which has been recently renamed 'Amrit Udyan' is spread over 15 acres and boasts of over 150 varieties of roses, tulips, Asiatic lilies, daffodils and other ornamental flowers.

Spread over a vast expanse of 15 acres, the gardens have often been portrayed, and deservedly so, as the "soul of the Presidential Palace".

The design draws its inspiration from the Mughal Gardens of Jammu and Kashmir, the gardens around the Taj Mahal and even miniature paintings of India and Persia.

The renaming of the historic Mughal Gardens in the President's Estate which came months after the rechristening of Rajpath to Kartavya Path by the government has drawn criticism from many quarters.

In 1911, King George held a grand Durbar in Delhi where he also announced the shifting of the imperial capital from Calcutta to Delhi.

Lutyens and Sir Herbert Baker gave shape to the new imperial capital, with the Viceroy's House and the North Block and South Block as the centrepiece of 'New Delhi', as the city was officially named in 1926.

"They chose Delhi eventually as the site for the new capital as it was the city from where the previous ruler had also ruled. The design of the new capital incorporated elements from Indian architecture and its landscape," adds Liddle, author of 'Connaught Place and the Making of New Delhi'.

She says that while the Viceroy House became the Government House right after Independence and was rechristened Rashtrapati Bhavan after India became a Republic in 1950, the public memory of its gardens has been that of Mughal Gardens.

It has hosted ceremonial At Homes, and many visiting heads of state and other dignitaries over several decades.

Many historians and horticulture experts credit the Mughal rulers for building massive gardens with an aesthetic appeal that still charms the senses of people.

UNESCO on its website extols "the celebrated Mughal gardens of Kashmir" which, it says, "owe their grandeur primarily to Emperor Jahangir who had an undaunted love for Kashmir, and his son Shah Jahan".

"Jahangir was responsible for the careful selection of the site and manoeuvring it to suit the requirements of the traditional paradise gardens. Although the Mughals never deviated drastically from the original form or concept of the gardens, their biggest challenge in Kashmir was to exploit the chosen site and the abundance of water resources to their maximum potential.

"The sites selected were invariably at the foot of a mountain, wherever there was a source of water either in the form of streams or springs. This feature eventually resulted in terraced garden layouts," reads the description.

Undaunted by the challenges offered by mountainous terrain, the "Mughal engineering skills and aesthetics" helped in exploiting the dominating natural landscape and the available water resources to their maximum potential and achieved an "unparalleled height of perfection", it adds.

All the six gardens in Kashmir are generally categorised as later Mughal Gardens, which have evolved from their earliest prototypes like the Humayun's Tomb gardens in Delhi and thus are "representatives of Mughal Gardens in their highest state of development", UNESCO says.

"These gardens therefore, apart from being of exceptional beauty, are important and irreplaceable physical evidence to the understanding of Mughal Garden evolution and culmination. As key examples of this tradition these gardens are also an outstanding and irreplaceable resource for the understanding of garden history in general and the Mughal period in India," it says.

After Independence, Lahore became part of the newly-created Pakistan, where the famed Shalimar Gardens are located, which together with the Lahore Fort, form a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

"The Shalimar Gardens, constructed by Shah Jahan in 1641-2 is a Mughal garden, layering Persian influences over medieval Islamic garden traditions, and bearing witness to the apogee of Mughal artistic expression.

"The Mughal garden is characterised by enclosing walls, a rectilinear layout of paths and features, and large expanses of flowing water," reads the description on UNESCO.

The Shalimar Gardens cover 16 hectares and is arranged in three terraces descending from the south to the north.

"The regular plan, enclosed by a crenellated wall of red sandstone, disposes square beds on the upper and lower terraces and elongated blocks on the narrower, intermediate terrace; within, elegant pavilions balance harmoniously arranged poplar and cypress trees, reflected in the vast basins of water," it says.