(This month, each day, except the four Sundays, I will be blogging about interesting features associated with Bengaluru, formerly known as Bangalore, as part of the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge)
Lalbagh was set up in 1760 by the ruler of Mysore Hyder Ali as a private garden on the lines of Delhi's Mughal Gardens. His son Tipu Sultan developed it further by bringing in seeds and saplings from abroad.
It was named Lalbagh in 1856. From the next year, flower shows began to be held. Even now, there two, one on Independence Day (on Aug 15) and the other on Republic Day (on Jan 26), to showcase the large diversity of flora that the garden boasts of.
It's said two mango trees that are over 250 years old, planted during the time of Hyder Ali, are the oldest in Lalbagh today. There are now 2,150 species of plants belonging to 673 genera and 140 families.
I will let some photos speak. Here are some that I took during a visit in 2016.
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| This is the famous Glasshouse erected in 1889-90, apparently modelled on the lines of London's Crystal Palace. |
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| The lawn clock. |
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| The tree fossil. Description below |
REFERENCES:
Karntaka Government's Horticultural Department
(Tomorrow we head to Bengaluru's city centre and look at a 19th century building.)