Srinagar's Iconic Tulip Garden Crosses 1 Lakh Visitors in a Week

The garden, situated between the Dal Lake and the Zabarwan hills, houses more than 1.5 million tulips in various colors and shades. The garden, originally known as Siraj Bagh, has a beautiful display of tulips and other spring flowers including hyacinths, daffodils, muscari and cyclamen.

On March 20, the garden received 10514 visitors, including 3601 residents, 6898 citizens, and 15 foreign visitors. On March 21, 11874 tourists- 11874 locals, 9204 citizens, and 15 foreigners- visited the garden. On March 22, 22826 people, including 76 foreign visitors and 1304 locals, visited the garden.

The garden received 8683 visitors on March 23, including 1304 locals, 7341 nationals, and 38 foreign visitors. A total of 7694 people, including 532 residents and 7122 nationals and 40 foreign guests, visited the garden on March 24. On March 25, 7862 tourists-464 locals, 7271 fellow countrymen, and 127 foreigners- visited the garden.

At least 60 gardeners are working around the clock at the famed garden, according to officials. The garden is divided into 36 plots, each with 16-18 beds.

Inside the garden, there are three parks where guests can sit and have an immersive experience in a sea of colours flanked by the Zabarwan mountain range. Numerous little attractive plants cover the sides of the garden's numerous by-lanes.

The garden was instrumental in attracting more tourists during the spring of last year, especially following the Covid disruptions in 2020 and 2021. The garden received 3.6 lakh visitors in 2022, including tourists and locals, up from 2.3 lakh in 2021.

Around 26 lakh visitors visited Kashmir last year, and the numbers this year are also looking promising. More than a lakh tourists visited Kashmir in February, particularly its three well-known sites of Gulmarg, Pahalgam, and Sonamarg. Tulips have been associated with Kashmir for hundreds of years, when the flowers were grown on muddy rooftops of buildings.

People gradually began planting them in kitchen gardens and flower beds until 2005-06, when the then-state government chose to transform Siraj Bagh into a regal tulip garden, honouring Kashmir's historical ties with the flower species. The Tulip Garden was established in 2007 to promote floriculture and tourism in Kashmir. It is constructed in a terraced way on sloping terrain, with seven terraces.