Amrit Udyan

Every year during the spring season India’s presidential home, which is commonly known as Rashtrapati Bhavan comes to life. Roses, tulips, lilies, daffodils, and many seasonal flowers decorate the gardens of Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Rashtrapati Bhavan, located in the heart of New Delhi, is home to the President of India. The entire mansion has impressive architecture which fascinates every onlooker.

The history of Rashtrapati Bhavan goes back more than a hundred years. During that time, India was still under British rule, the administration decided to shift the capital from Calcutta to Delhi and the decision was made to build a residential palace in 1911.

The construction of the enormous building took 17 years to complete incorporating elegant elements of Indian and European styles. The main building is H-shaped and the entire complex shows elaborate geographical permutations in an elegant style.

This palatial campus has many gardens located on the campus like Amrit Udayan, Herbal Garden, Musical Garden, and Spiritual Garden. The most famous of them is Amrit Udayan who is often been depicted as the soul of the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Amrit Udyan earlier known as Mughal Gardens was renamed in January 2023, as India marked its 75 years of independence as “Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav”.

‘Amrit’, a Sanskrit word associated with nectar, and ‘Udyan’ which means Garden is probably the apt way to elucidate this Garden. As flowers bloom in the garden, different honeybees flock to this paradise to collect sweet nectar and help in pollination.

The garden area consists of three parts namely the rectangular garden, followed by a long garden, and finally ending with the circular garden.

The stunning Amrit Udyan is spread over a vast expanse of 15 acres constituting flowerbeds, water fountains, and artificial lakes. There are several varieties of trees, creepers, and seasonal and perennial plants and shrubs.

Colorful roses remain a key feature of the garden. More than 200 varieties of roses blossom in the gardens, including exotic ones. Some of the roses have unique names like ‘Krishna’, ‘Mrinalini’, ‘Sherbat’, ‘Taj Mahal’, ‘Queen Elizabeth’, ‘John F Keneddy’, ‘Mother Teresa’, ‘Christian Dior’ and many more.

Apart from roses, dahlias, tulips, marigolds, Asiatic lilies, daffodils, and hyacinths beautify the gardens of Rashtrapati Bhavan. The high walls of the long garden and circular garden are covered with creepers like a flame vine, trumpet vine, and Jasmine that add fragrance to the surroundings.

The grass that covers the garden is the doob grass, which was originally brought from Calcutta (now Kolkata) when the gardens were being planted.

Currently, Rashtrapati Bhavan is a popular tourist attraction in Delhi. Every year in the month of February-March, the public is given an opportunity to explore Amrit gardens as part of Udyanotsav (garden festival). Hundreds of visitors flock to the garden to enjoy its vibrancy of the garden.

Take a visual tour of Amrit Udyan on our YouTube channel.