A canal, about a mile in length and twelve yards broad, runs through the marshy swamps, the willow groves, and the rice-fields that fringe the lower end of the lake, connecting the garden with the deep open water. On each side there are broad green paths overshadowed by large chenars ; and at the entrance to the canal blocks of masonry indicate the site of an old gateway. There are fragments also of the stone embankment which formerly lined the watercourse.
The outer or public garden, starting with the grand canal leading from the lake, terminates at the first large pavilion, the Diwan-i-'Am. The small black marble throne still stands over thewaterfall in the centre of the canal which flows through the building into the tank below. From time to time this garden was thrown open to the people so that they might see the Emperor enthroned in his Hall of Public Audience.
The second garden is slightly broader, consisting of two shallow terraces with the Diwan-i-Khas (the Hall of Private Audience) in the centre. The buildings have been destroyed, but their carved stone bases are left, as well as a fine platform surrounded by fountains. On the north- west boundary of this enclosure are the royal bathrooms.
At the next wall, the little guard-rooms that flank the entrance to the ladies' garden have been rebuilt in Kashmir style on older stone bases. Here the whole effect culminates with the beautiful black marble pavilion built by Shah Jahan, which still stands in the midst of its fountain spray ; the green glitter of the water shining in the smooth, polished marble, the deep rich tone of which is repeated in the old cypress trees. Round this baradari the whole colour and perfume of the garden is concentrated, with the snows of Mahadev for a background. How well the Mughals understood the principle that the garden, like every other work of art, should have a climax.
When Bernier visited Kashmir the gardens were laid out in regular trellised walks and generally surrounded by the large-leafed aspen, planted at intervals of two feet. In Vigne's time the Bagh-i-Dilawar Khan, where the European visitors were lodged, was still planted in the usual Eastern manner, with trellis -work shading the walks along the walls, " on which were produced the finest grapes in the city."
Pergolas were in all probability one of the oldest forms of garden decoration. A drawing of an ancient Egyptian pleasure-ground shows a large pergola surrounded by tanks in the centre of a square enclosure. The trellis -work takes he form of a temple with numerous columns. In the Roshanara Gardens at Delhi a broken pergola of square stone pillars still exists, and a more modern attempt has been made to build one outside the walls at Pinjor.
A complete contrast is offered by the Nishat, the equally beautiful garden on the Dal Lake built by Asaf Khan, Nur-Mahal's brother.
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From C.M. Villiers Stuart's 'Gardens of the Great Mughals' (1913)
Read more:
Images:
1. Ground plan of Shalimar bagh found in C.M. Villiers Stuart's 'Gardens of the Great Mughals'
2. View from Outer Garden of Shalimar Bagh
3 Central structure at Shalimar Bagh
4. A painting of Pergola at Shalimar Bagh by H. Clerget (1870)
5. Central Pergola at Shalimar Bagh
6. Inside the central structure at Shalimar Bagh. (All photographs taken by me in June 2008)
There is a new (well very old video from 1931, which is different from another video made in Kashmir in the 1930's) video on YouTube, which mentions about Shalimar !! Worth having a look below:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADbX-b21xbU
thanks for the link!
ReplyDeleteWow...I loved this blog and the photographs are awesome. You made my day, Thanks.
ReplyDeleteBEAUTIFUL I WOULD LIKE TO GO SOMEDAY!!ยช
ReplyDeleteBeautiful
ReplyDelete