Shalamar Garden (Mughal Garden), Lahore

4 more images

The Shalamar Garden, also written Shalimar Garden, was built by the great Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. Construction began in 1641 A.D. and was completed in a year.

Shalamar Garden is a great example of Mughal architecture. Covered area of garden is approx. 80 acres surrounded by a high wall of brick work. There are three successive terraces in the middle of the garden, raised one above the level of the other by a height of 12 or 15 feet (4 or 5 m). These terraces were named as:

1. Farah Baksh means Bestower of Pleasure. (Upper Terrace)
2. Faiz Baksh means Bestower of Goodness. (Middle Terrace)
3. Hayat Baksh means Bestower of life. (Lower Terrace)

A canal joins the middle terrace into a large marble basin. From this basin and from the canal, rise 450 fountains which throw up water that is subsequently received into marble tanks. The channels of water that weave through the whole garden are fed by this canal. The gardens contain white marble buildings in typical Shah Jahani style.

The Shalimar Garden was gifted by King to "Mian" family and remained under this family more than 350 years, till then were among the best preserved Mughal gardens. It has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites List along with Royal Fort of Lahore. in danger. The site has been listed as Endangered since 2000.

Just visit this place yesterday...
The Shalimar Garden is really magnificent site to visit in Lahore. The problem is the garden is not maintained very well, the water is not that crystal clear. And you will see that all fountains look like not working (off) all the time.
But don't worry, just find an official guy with a tool and tip him Rs 100 (US$ 1.50). He will loose some knots and voila! You'll see water's flowing and then some fountains on and on without any electric pump to support.
How engineers from Mughal empire designed the fountain solely based on the water pressure? It remains mistery to me. :)

3 more images

It z the famous Mugal garden in Lahore.their r many trees of fruit in it.It was built In 1641 A.D by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan.It has 140 fountains.It was included as a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with the Lahore Fort, under the UNESCO Convention concerning the protection of the world's cultural and natural heritage sites in 1972.

The Shalamar Garden was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in Lahore in 1642. Garden is laid out in three descending terraces, which are elevated by 4-5 meters. To irrigate the Garden, a canal named “Shah Nahar” meaning Royal canal, was brought from a distance of over 161 kilometers. The canal intersected the Gardens and discharged into a large marble basin in the middle terrace. From this basin, and from the canal, rise 410 fountains, which discharge into wide marble pools. It is a credit to the creativity of the Mughal engineers that even today scientists are unable to comprehend how the fountains were operated.
In 1981, Shalimar Gardens was included as a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with the Lahore Fort.

2 more images

The Shalamar Bagh (Garden) was constructed by the Mughal Emperor Shah-Jehan in 1642 AD. Originally, the gardens had seven ascending terraces, but now only three remain spread over an area of about 42 acres. There is a marble pavilion under which water flows and cascades down over a carved, marble slab creating a water-fall effect. Across the water-fall is a marble throne. At the end of the second terrace is a beautiful structure called "Sawan Bhadon".

I find the Shalimar gardens very lovely and depressing at the same time. Like most of the crumbling legacies left by the Moghuls in Pakistan, not enough is being done to preserve the beautiful monuments, the Shalimar gardens included. Recently I have heard that a renovation project will take place in the gardens - great news! If you walk around the inner wall you can find little gems, like this colorful door....

The Shalimar Gardens - One of Lahore's most famous parks built by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jehan in 1642...When I went at least I felt transported back in time...It was beautiful and so relaxing men and couples (you wouldn't of course see single women sitting under a tree reading a book) having picnics and just hanging out. We were the only tourists there and it was rather empty, but still, they turned on the fountains just for us!

The Shalimar Gardens are another centerpeice of Lahore's Mughal history. The gardens were built during the reign of Shah Jehan, and are today a popular ground for people escaping the heat of Lahore. The park is always busy, and people come to simply walk around, to those who come for picnics, to the few who come to play cricket.

The garden is majestic in it's size, and pretty impressive when you see the fountains and consider that they were built without modern technology.

Although the Gardens are impressive, they have suffered the sad history that has afflicted many other sites in Lahore, and that is the problem of plunder. To see the Gardens in all their grandeur would be quite a site.

3 more images

The impressive Shalimar Gardens in 5KM (3 miles) from the centre of town on the Grand Trunk Road towards the Indian border. This is the only garden left in whole subcontinent which shows what a Mughal was like. You can get there in about 20 minutes from railway station on wagon number 12. The best time to visit garden is when the fontains are playing 10 to11am and 4to 5pm in summer, and 11 to 12 noon and 3 to 4 pm in winter.
The garden was built by Shahjahan in 1642 as a pleasure garden for royal household; it follows the Mughal concept of the perfect walled garden, with three tarraces of straight, shaded walks, geometrically arranged ponds, fountains and marble pavillions, surronded by flowers and fruit trees. The garden is especially lovely in Feburary and March when the flowers are atr their best; in summer it can be dry and dusty, though it is still a pleasent place to relax after a sightseeing expedition.

Shalimar gardens have the proud privilege of being the stage of all important state receptions. Outside its walls the annual festival of Mela Chiraghan is held every year during the year of March. Special lights on the first and second terraces of the Gardens have been installed and the area is illuminated half-an-hour after sun-set.