Asia’s largest Tulip Garden set to welcome tourists in Kashmir soon

Nestled on the foothills of Zabarwan range, Asia’s largest Tulip Garden here would be a riot of colour as by the end of this month more than a million tulips of 62-varieties are expected to bloom in the Garden.

Last season, 1.3 million tulips at the Garden withered without catching an eye due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, opening of the Garden this season is expected to give impetus to the ailing tourism sector of Kashmir which has been badly hit by the two consecutive bad seasons.

The garden spread over 120 acres was ranked fourth-biggest tulip garden among the world’s biggest tulip gardens by the World Tulip Society in 2017. It was also touted among the top 5 tulip destinations in the world at the Tulip Summit in Canada in 2017.

Tulips in Kashmir remain in bloom for 15-20 days from the last week of March to mid April depending upon the temperature.

Director Floriculture, Farooq Rather said they expect the early opening of the Tulip Garden this season due to a slight temperature rise. The work in the Garden is in full swing, with the department introducing new verities and designs to attract tourists to enjoy the spring bloom.

Around 100-gardeners who have been employed to take care of the flower beds said that they are working hard to make it more beautiful.

“Last year we missed the admirers of our work as none visited the garden due to Covid-19. We are hopeful that the Garden will attract more tourists as we have worked very hard on it,” Mohammad Shafi, a gardener said.

Tulip Garden has become one of the major tourist attractions of the valley since it was inaugurated in 2007. Till then (2008), the tourism season in Kashmir used to begin from May every year. However, the Tulip Garden has advanced the tourism season of Kashmir by over a month.

Situated at an altitude of 5,600 feet, the Tulip Garden, curated by then Chief Minister of J&K Ghulam Nabi Azad at the foothills of Zabarwan in Srinagar, came as a shot in the arm for the Tourism Department in 2007.

While Tulips are normally associated with the Turks and Dutch, Kashmir is fast catching up with this craze to somehow squeeze itself into the exclusive zone of Tulip-growing regions of the world.