Your friends they aren't at home, Everybody's gone to the garden

Thursday of this past week was a holiday at work, Maha Shivratri, which I will be talking about. We took the occasion to go visit the Mughal Garden, the formal gardens at the Indian President’s residence, which Rae will talk about. Pictures to follow.

Maha Shivaratri, which generally means “the great night of Shiva” is a holiday that is celebrated generally among Hindus and specifically those who are ardent followers of Shiva. We did see several temples at which free meals were being served (a common aspect of celebrations) but in general there were fewer obvious signs of observance than for other religious holidays that have occurred whilst we have been in India. The key to that may be in the name: the great NIGHT of Shiva. From what I have been told, those that most actively celebrate Maha Shivaratri do so by fasting during the day and an all-night vigil with praying during the night. Neither of these activities are particularly public. Anyhoo, the day off gave us the opportunity to go visit the President’s garden, as noted above.

The President’s garden is only open to the public for a month every year. During that time, millions of people visit the 80 acre gardens. For security reasons people cannot take in backpacks, purses, water, or still or video cameras. As you will notice, the prohibition on cameras does not mean there aren’t pictures taken. Cell phones are allowed and since most of them now have the capacity to take pictures… well as an Indian from New Jersey might say “badda bing badda boom”. We followed the rules very closely for the first half hour or so, but after seeing dozens of others taking pictures with their cell phones (often standing right next to guards) we decided the rule must really be more of a suggestion. Kind of like traffic lights. So, Rae did get some pictures but honestly they can’t begin to truly convey the whole experience: the sight, the peace and quiet, the wonderful fragrances… but I am afraid I am overstepping my assignment. I yield the floor and the balance of my time to my esteemed partner.

Well, Phil has already explained a bit about the Mughal Gardens.  I will just say that these gardens are beautiful and impressive.  One thing that I found so impressive was the wide variety of flowers.  For those of us from the NW It is not unusual to see lovely flowers, but we usually associate tulips with spring, roses with summer and dahlias with fall.  So, to be able to see all those plus many, many others all at the same time was both impressive and beautiful.  

As Phil explained, there were no cameras allowed so for the first part of the tour I didn’t take any pictures.  So, there are no pictures of the large herb and medicinal gardens that we first encountered.  We were told that all of the food that is used at the President’s house is raised on the grounds. 

After the herb and medicinal gardens there was a large area with display shelves that held pot after pot of bonsai plants.  There was a wide variety of plants that have been pruned and shaped in the bonsai style.  It was fascinating to see the size of some of these plants in relation to the small, shallow pots that they grew in.  There were fig, ficus (several varieties), citrus, palm, banyan, evergreens and a bunch of others that I’m not remembering right now.  Most all of these were labelled with the name of the plant, but some also had signs stating how old they were.  Some were almost 20 years old.  I found that interesting because with such shallow pots and such hot weather, keeping them watered and maintained must be quite a feat.

There are several different fountains.  Some of them were programed to music and lights.  While we were able to see the display with the music, and it was beautiful, I imagine they are quite spectacular at night with the lights. 

I tried to capture two different tennis court areas.  One looked like the ones I’m most used to, but one had clay courts.  Hopefully you can spot those among the pictures.  There is another picture that looks like a carpet.  It was made of cut flowers and arranged on a lawn area.  I’m sure there was some significance there that I’m not aware of.  It did draw a lot of attention.   There were several areas that were blocked off and so were not available for viewing.

There was one picture that I wish I’d taken, and there were several opportunities, as they were posted all over.  That is a picture of the sign saying “No Videos or photography”.  The only other thing that would have added to that would be pictures of all the people taking pictures.  Maybe another time.  I’m really good at thinking of these things after the fact. 

While the photos were taken by my cell phone and don’t really do justice to the gardens, I hope you get the idea and enjoy them.      

Namaste.