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Nishat
Bagh is a terraced Mughal garden built on the eastern side of the
Dal Lake, close to Srinagar in the state of
Jammu and Kashmir, India. It is the second largest Mughal garden in the
Kashmir Valley. The largest in size is the Shalimar Bagh, which is also
located on the bank of the Dal Lake. ‘Nishat
Bagh’ is Hindustani, which means "Garden of Joy," "Garden of Gladness"
and "Garden of Delight."
Located on the bank of the Dal Lake, with the Zabarwan Mountains as its
backdrop, Nishat Bagh is a garden of bliss that commands a magnificent
view of the lake beneath the snow capped Pir Panjal mountain range that
stands far away to the west of the valley. The Bagh was designed and
built in 1633 by Asif Khan, elder brother of Nur Jehan. |
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An
interesting anecdote of jealousy of the Emperor Shah Jahan on beholding
such a delightful garden, which almost shutdown the garden for some
time, is narrated. When Shah Jahan saw this garden, after its completion
in 1633, he expressed great appreciation of its grandeur and beauty. He
is believed to have articulated his appreciation three times to Asif
Khan, his father-in- law, with the hope that he would gift it to him. As
no such offer was made by Asif Khan, Shah Jahan was piqued and ordered
closure of the water supply to the garden. Then, for some time, the
garden was deserted.
Asif Khan
was desolate and heartbroken; he was uninterested in the sequence of
events. When he was resting under the shade of a tree, in one of the
terraces, his servant was bold enough to turn on the water supply source
from the Shalimar Bagh. When Asif Khan heard the sound of water and the
fountains in action he was startled and immediately order closure of
water supply as he feared the worst reaction from the emperor for this
wanton act of disobedience. Fortunately for the servant and Asif Khan,
Shaha Jahan, who had heard about this incident at the garden, was not
disturbed or annoyed by the disobedience of his orders. Instead, he
appreciated the servant for loyal service to his master and then ordered
full restoration rights for the supply of water to the garden to Asif
Khan, his Prime Minister and father-in-law.
Layout
Even though the layout of Nishat Bagh was based on the basic conceptual
model of the Persian gardens, it had to be remodeled to fit the
topographic and water source conditions at the site chosen in the
Kashmir valley. The plan, instead of being central with four radiating
arms in a square pattern as in the case of Chahar (suited for a flat
country side), was changed to an axial stream flow design to fit the
hill condition with water source originating at the top of the hill end.
This resulted in planning a rectangular layout rather than a square
layout. This helped in dispensing with the long side arms. Thus, a
rectangular layout with east-west length of 548 metres (1,798 ft) and
width of338 metres (1,109 ft) was adopted.
Architecture
Thus, Nishat Bagh as laid out now is a broad cascade of terraces lined
with avenues of chinar and cypress trees, which starts from the
lakeshore and reaches up to an artificial façade at the hill end. Rising
from the edge of the Dal
Lake, it has twelve 12 terraces representing
twelve Zodiacal signs. However, it has only two sections, namely the
public garden and the private garden for the Zanana or harem vis-à-vis
the four sections of the Shalimar Bagh; this difference is attributed to
the fact that the latter Bagh catered to the Mughal Emperor, while
Nishad Bagh belonged to a man of his court, a noble.
There are,
however, some similarities with the Shalimar Bagh, such as the polished
stone channel and terraces. The source of water supply to the two
gardens is the same. Built in an east-west direction, the top terrace
has the Zenana garden while the lowest terrace is connected to the
Dal
Lake. In recent years, the lowest terrace has merged with the approach
road. A spring called the Gopi Thirst provides clear water supply to the
gardens. There are a few old Mughal period buildings in the vicinity of
the Bagh.
The central canal, which runs through the garden from the top end, is 4
metres (13 ft) wide and has a water depth of 20 centimetres (7.9 in).
Water flows down in a cascade from the top to the first terrace at the
road level, which could be also approached from the
Dal
Lake through a shikara ride. The water flow from one terrace to the next is over
stepped stone ramps that provide the sparkle to the flow. At all the
terraces fountains with pools are provided, along the water channel. At
channel crossings, benches are provided for people to sit and enjoy the
beauty of the garden and the cascading flows and fountain jets.
Visitor Information
Nishat Bagh located in the Srinagar District is 11 kilometres (6.8 mi)
from the city centre. The nearest Airport is 25 kilometres (16 mi) away
at Badgam. The Airport connects to all major cities of India. Jammu is
the nearest Rail Head which is 300 kilometres (190 mi) away. The
National Highway NH1A connects the Kashmir valley with rest of the
country. One way of visiting the Bagh is through the
Dal
Lake using the
famous "water taxi" of Kashmir, the Shikara.
Getting
There
Srinagar International
Airport (IATA: SXR, ICAO: VISR), is an international airport in
Srinagar. The Airport is located at a distance of 12 km from Srinagar
bus stand and 14 km from Srinagar railway station. You can reach the
Airport via private taxi and state bus services which run at regular
basis especially to / from the Airport.
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