Kashmir’s Tulip Garden to open on March 26 with breathtaking spring bloom

Indira Gandhi Tulip Garden where spring paints Srinagar in colour

As spring begins, the Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Garden in Srinagar opens to visitors. Located at the foothills of the Zabarwan Mountains and overlooking Dal Lake, the garden displays 1.7 million tulips of 74 varieties. It is the largest tulip garden in Asia and attracts thousands of visitors each year. The blooming season lasts for a few weeks, offering a view of structured flower beds arranged in patterns. The garden marks the arrival of spring and serves as a seasonal attraction for nature lovers and tourists.

As spring begins, Srinagar’s Indira Gandhi Tulip Garden will open to visitors, displaying 1.7 million tulips of 74 varieties. Located by Dal Lake with the Zabarwan Mountains in the backdrop, the garden remains a major attraction, drawing thousands of people each year to see the seasonal bloom and structured flower beds.

As winter draws to a close and the first signs of spring appear, Srinagar’s Indira Gandhi Tulip Garden awakens once again. Located along the banks of Dal Lake, with the Zabarwan mountains in the background, it is the largest tulip garden in Asia. This year it will open its doors from March 25, inviting visitors to walk through endless rows of 1.7 million tulips of 74 distinct varieties, each bringing its own colour and scent to the landscape.

To add to the visitors’ pleasure, this season, two new tulip varieties have been introduced at the garden, raising the total number of varieties to seventy-four. Imported from the Netherlands, these new additions provide a fresh burst of colour that further enhances the impact that this beautiful garden has on visitors

A Garden with a rich legacy

This garden carries a long history. First established during the Mughal era, it later served as a local horticulture centre, quietly growing plants for years. Then, in 2007, the state government reimagined it as a destination for visitors, transforming it into the largest tulip garden in Asia to promote tourism in Kashmir. To bring this vision to life, tulip bulbs were brought from Holland. Since then, every spring, the garden has drawn thousands of visitors, becoming a place where people come to witness the changing season. In 2024 alone, over 4,30,000 people walked through its paths, taking in the sight of flowers in bloom.

Normally, the tulip season begins in mid-March. The flowers slowly unfurl their petals, reaching full bloom by the third week and remaining until the end of April. This 40-day period is known as the Tulip Festival, a time when the garden is alive with visitors admiring the nature’s colourful canvas.

Spread across 72 acres, it has flower beds stretching in all directions, water fountains gently flowing, and walkways guiding people through the heart of the bloom. Visitors stroll through the garden, pausing at grassy seating areas, taking photographs, and simply looking around, lost in the moment.

But the tulip garden is not just about tulips. Daffodils, hyacinths, and ranunculus also grow here, while almond and apricot trees blossom nearby, adding to the scene. Days ahead of the festival, nearly 120 workers, including gardeners and spraying teams, work tirelessly, making the final preparations. Soon, the gates will open, and once again, people will walk through this space, marking the arrival of another tulip season in Kashmir.

Sweat behind bloom

While the visitors come to the garden, relish the sights and the smells and take the now mandatory dozens of selfies and other photographs, few realise the amount of work and care that goes into ensuring a proper bloom each year.

“You may see a tulip as a flower, but we nurture it like a baby, we care for its bloom as a mother cares for her child,” Ghulam Mohammad Moti, 40, Head Gardener of the garden tells Media India Group.

While tending to 1.7 million plants can never be an easy task, Moti says that the task for him and his fellow gardeners has become increasingly tough due to various factors.

“I have been working in this field from over three decades, but in recent years the work has become tougher due to several factors, including the rising population of wild pigs. We contend with them day and night to preserve these tulips, and our team works in shifts to prevent any damage,” says Moti.

“Behind the bloom of these tulip bulbs is a mixture of blood and sweat from our team. We work in temperatures ranging from below zero to 36°C. For 12 months we have had no holidays, we work tirelessly, full time with no weekends,” he adds.

Mehraj Ud Din Rather, 35, from Nishat, Srinagar, is one of the several gardeners working at the garden. “My job is primarily to prepare the beds for cultivating tulips, and this work continues throughout the year. In winter, we sow the tulip seeds in the garden beds, and as the cycle continues, the seeds germinate and grow. By July, we remove the spent seeds from the soil and prepare it for the next bloom, completing a circular process that takes about year from preparing soil, sowing to bloom,” Rather, who has been working here for 17 years, tells Media India Group.

As the annual tulip season draws near, officials at Tulip Garden have outlined the entry fee structure for the upcoming bloom.

Entry fees at Tulip Garden are fixed at  international visitor. The fee structure is implemented to ensure a smooth entry process for all guests. The system is designed to accommodate both residents and visitors from abroad, allowing everyone to view the tulip display during the bloom season. The garden remains open to the public, with the fee system arranged to provide clear and consistent access. This approach supports a seamless experience for those wishing to attend the annual tulip viewing at the garden.

Gearing up for a record-breaking season

This year, authorities expect tourist numbers to increase compared to 2024. Last year, the garden recorded 430,000 visitors and likely 20 visitors from abroad, says, Bashir Ahmad Dar, Senior Gardener.

“We expect visitor numbers to increase this year for two reasons, one is that Eid ul Fitr, falls during the period, and the other is that Ramadan concludes this month. Last year, with Ramadan occurring in the middle of the period, local visitor numbers were lower. This year, the entire month of April is available for visits,” Dar, tells Media India Group.

The local officials have planned out the annual reopening of the garden in a comprehensive manner, with an extensive publicity campaign, highlighting the garden’s opening date, time slots, and online ticket booking options, with the necessary links to be made available on the official website of the Floriculture Department.

To accommodate visitors more effectively, the garden’s opening hours have been extended, keeping it open from 06:00 to 20:00 everyday.