Asia's Largest Tulip Garden In J&K's Srinagar Opens For Public. In Pics

The Indira Gandhi Tulip Garden, Asia's largest tulip garden, opened to the public on Sunday, nestled between Dal Lake and the Zabarwan hills in Srinagar.

Tulips bloom in Srinagar's largest tulip garden, located in the foothills of the Zabarwan Mountains and overlooking Dal Lake.

Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha at the opening ceremony said that about 68 varieties of tulips will bloom in the garden this year.

In addition to 15 lakh tulips of various colours and hues, the garden, also known as Siraj Bagh, has other spring flowers on display, including hyacinths, daffodils, muscari, and cyclamens, according to Inam-ul-Rehman, the garden's in-charge, PTI reported.

"Every year, we expand this garden and display new varieties. We have extended the fountain channel this year," he stated. When the garden is fully bloomed, he promises a rainbow of tulips.

The Floriculture department plants the tulip bulbs in stages so that the flowers last for at least a month. According to the LG, the garden received 3.60 lakh visitors last year, the most since it opened.

Sinha expressed hope that this year's visitor footfall will exceed last year's numbers and announced the opening of a new tulip garden in April in the Sanasar area of Jammu, where 2.75 lakh tulips of 25 varieties will bloom.

Sinha praised the people of Jammu and Kashmir, saying that whatever successes the administration has achieved in the last few years are due to their efforts.

The Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Garden, formerly known as Siraj Bagh, was inaugurated in 2008 by Jammu and Kashmir's then-chief minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad. Azad had conceived the concept of bridging the Valley's lean tourist arrival period between the winter and summer seasons.