Shalimar Bagh Mughal Garden

Shalimar Bagh Mughal Garden

Salam 2020 !

Kali ini saya akan share kan sebuah lagi mughal garden yang ada di Srinagar iaitu Shalimar.

Shalimar Mughal Garden merupakan taman yang paling popular dilawati oleh pengunjung. Ianya juga terletak di tebing Tasik Dal seperti juga Nishat Garden.

Shalimar Bagh dibina rata, tidak seperti Nishat Bagh yang dibina bertingkat-tingkat, namun konsep tamannya adalah sama.

Shalimar Bagh dibina oleh Maharaja Shah Jahan untuk isterinya, Nur Jahan. Bahagian taman yang paling cantik dikatakan ketika itu, hanya boleh dimasuki oleh wanita-wanita Diraja saja.

Kashmir mempunyai 4 musim. Bunga akan berkembang mekar pada musim bunga (spring) dan musim panas (summer). Tetapi di Kashmir ini, jenis-jenis bunganya mekar pada waktu yang berlainan.

The word Shalimar in Sanskrit means 'abode of love'. Shalimar Bagh is a Mughal garden in Srinagar, linked through a channel to the northeast of Dal Lake. Its other names are Shalimar Garden, Shalimar Bagh, Farah Baksh, and Faiz Baksh.

Emperor Jahangir built his celebrated Shalimar Bagh, his dream project to please his queen. He enlarged the ancient garden in 1619 into a royal garden and called it 'Farah Baksh' ('the delightful'). He built it for his wife Nur Jahan ('light of the world'). In 1630, under Emperor Shah Jahan’s orders, Zafar Khan the governor of Kashmir extended it. He named it ‘Faiz Baksh’ ('the bountiful'). It then became a pleasant place for the Sikh governors of the province.

During the Mughal period, in particular, Emperor Jahangir and his wife Nur Jahan were so enamored of Kashmir that during summer they moved to Srinagar with their full-court entourage from Delhi at least 13 times. Shalimar Bagh was their imperial summer residence and the Royal Court. They crossed the arduous snowy passes of the Pir Panjal mountain range on elephants to reach Srinagar.

The garden was linked to the open Dal Lake water through a canal of about 1 mile (1.6 km) length and 12 yards (11 m) in width that ran through the swampy quagmire. Willow groves and rice terraces fringed the lake edge. Broad green paths bordered the lake with rows of chinar trees. The garden was laid in trellised walkways lined by avenues of aspen trees planted at 2 feet (0.61 m) interval.

Dikawasan taman ini juga ada disediakan pakaian tradisional Kashmiri untuk disewa oleh para pengunjung yang ingin mengabadikan gambar mereka dalam pakaian kashmiri.