Lalbagh Gardens, Bangalore

After packing our bags in the car for the last time and politely saying no to a man who wanted to take us to certain places, we endured the Bangalore traffic and reached the Lalbagh gardens. Established in 1740 by Haider Ali, these gardens are spread over 240 acres of land. Its contents are quite varied – from the tropical and subtropical plants already initially over by Haider’s son Tipu Sultan, to rare species imported from London in the 1870’s. We walked past the massive rock hill composed of Peninsular Gneissic rock (said to be one of the oldest in the world), past a sleeping dog on a bench, and towards Lalbagh’s iconic structure – the Glass House. This airy 19th century structure was modeled after London’s Crystal Palace. Although it was presently empty, an annual horticultural show transforms the Glass House into a floral wonderland. In front of this was a military bandstand, also built by the British around the same time. On the park’s many paths shaded by champaka trees and pencil cedars, people could be seen strolling along and engaged in multiple forms of exercise. School children also came to enjoy the well-maintained park. Out of a hole in one tree popped out a bright green parrot with an orange beak. Crows squawked noisily amidst the branches of bamboo. Although the lotus pool had no flowers at the time, we did have ample opportunities to photograph other flowers. There are said to be over 1,000 species of flora in the park and contains India’s largest collection of rare plants.

See more photos of the Lalbagh Gardens on my Bangalore Flickr set

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