Shalimar Garden

Shalimar Garden or Shalimar Bagh in Srinagar is the largest Mughal garden in Kashmir valley built by Mughal Emperor Jahangir in the year 1619 AD for his wife Empress Nur Jahan. The term Shalimar comes from Sanskrit language which means “Adobe of Love”. This famous garden in sited on the right banks of Dal Lake and the garden is also popularly called as Shalamar garden or Bagh, Faiz Baksh and Farah Baksh. This garden is the outstanding example of Mughals in the field of horticultural. The garden is currently owned and managed by Jammu and Kashmir tourism department.
History of Shalimar Garden:
The history of Shalimar Garden can be traced back to second century. It is during that time period King Pravarsena II form Vakataka dynasty who ruled Kashmir from 79 AD till 139 AD. King Pravarsena II was the founder of Srinagar city who build a cottage surrounded by a park close to Dal Lak and named it Shalimar. The King often visits Saint Sukarma Swami at Harwan and after his visit the King stays in Shalimar cottage till then the cottage was well maintained. After that the cottage without proper maintenance was ruined and totally was destroyed but the name Shalimar got stick to the village and the village was called Shalimar itself.
Mughal Emperor Jahangir to please his loving wife Nur Jahan decided to build a garden which was his dream project and he chose Shalimar as the garden location. He renovated the old garden built by King Pravarsena II into a royal Mughal garden in 1619 and named it “Farah Baksh” which means “The delightful”. King Jahangir and his wife Nur Jahan along with the entire Jahangir’s court used to spend the summers in Shalimar garden which was their royal summer residence. To visit Shalimar they cross snow topped Pir Panjal mountain range near Shalimar using elephants.
Later in 1630 Kashmir Governor Zafar Khan as per Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan’s order extended the garden and named it “Faiz Baksh” which means “The Bountiful”. The park during Zafar Khan Administration was also used as an entertaining hub for Pathans and Sikh Governors who were friends with Zafar Khan.
Apart from Mughals many other rulers also altered Shalimar at various time intervals. Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Sikh Empire built a marble guest house in Shalimar for his European guests. Maharaja Hari Singh the last ruling King of Jammu and Kashmir from Rajput clans electrified Shalimar. All the rulers gave Shalimar many different names but the name Shalimar was mush popular amongst all which stays even today.