Half a million tourists visit Kashmir’s famous Tulip Garden in 15 days, set new footfall record

Srinagar: Over half a million visitors have visited Asia’s Largest Tulip Garden in Srinagar in just 15 days of its opening, breaking all its previous records. Nestled between the Dal Lake and Zabarwan hills, Asia’s largest tulip garden in Srinagar has over 1.7 million tulips of 74 varieties this year. And it remains one of the main attractions for the tourists visiting the valley in the spring season.

The tulip garden in Srinagar has witnessed a record number of visitors in 15 days since it was opened to the public. All the previous records of tourist footfall have been broken this year. Over half a million people have already visited the garden.

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Since the tulips are in full bloom, the garden looks no less than a floral wonderland.

“We are very much overwhelmed by the response of the tourists that they have shown to us. This iconic garden has been very successful in captivating the attention of tourists from across the world. We have crossed half a million tourists in just fifteen days, which is a new record. Last year, we witnessed around 4.46 lakh tourists in 33 days, and this record was broken in just fifteen days this year. It’s a big milestone for us,” said Asif Ahmad Itoo, Floriculture Officer.

The tulip garden has played a major role in attracting tourists to Kashmir Valley during the spring season. And seeing the huge rush of visitors, the government has opened the garden much before the earlier time. It used to open in the first week of April, and this time it was opened a week earlier on March 26. The tourists are flocking to the garden in huge numbers.

“It was very nice, and it’s very beautiful. Every tulip is fully blossomed and looks so surreal and out of this world, and the view of these lines of tulips, one after another, is just breathtaking. I saw this garden three years ago but it was not as blossomed as it is right now and it’s looking so beautiful,” said Saumya, a tourist

Hundreds of gardeners and staff work day and night to prepare the garden for public viewing. It takes around 6 months to get the garden ready, and huge planning is done much earlier before the opening of the garden.

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“I am loving it, I am not a flower aficionado but looking at these tulips and the variety I am seeing here… I’ve never seen before. Even in Delhi’s Mughal Garden, we have tulips, but that is nothing in comparison to this. Seeing the blooming tulip in the fields is just breathtaking,” said Vipul, another tourist.

The garden was set up in 2008 when Ghulam Nabi Azad was the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir. A few years ago, the garden was included in the World Book of Records (London) as Asia’s largest tulip garden.