Garden Retreats II: Mughal Garden, Shalimar Bagh
Located in the temperate vale of Kashmir outside Srinagar on the Dal Lake, the region was a summer retreat from the heat of the plains. It was here in 1616 that Jahangir, Persian meaning “Conqueror of the World,” created a pleasure garden for his beloved wife, Nur Jahan. By all accounts possessing remarkable beauty, intelligence and will, Nur Jahan “light of the world.” wielded vast imperial power in her own right. A brilliant court was established and it was during their reign that the artistic achievements of the Mughal empire came into full flower. The gardens of the Shalimar Bagh was the setting for courtly entertainments, lavish with wine favored by Jahangir, and poetry contests instituted by Nur Jahan, herself an accomplished poet. Accounts tell of moonlit soirees, accompanied by the sound of fountains and the heady fragrance of perfume made by Nur jahan from her own formula.
The Mughal gardens were enclosed spaces much like the European Medieval counterpoint, the hortus conclusus. The Persian word paridaida meant to enclose or an enclosed garden, and the word was translated eventually into English as “paradise”. This concept was utilized in the Shalimar Bagh along with another Persian form, the chahar bagh. In this garden arrangement, a walled garden was divided into four equal parts, with the central feature being a fountain or pool. Here at Shalimar, this approach is relaxed, with elements such as pools tranformed into wide watercourses with cascades, flanked by tall chenna trees and expansive lawns with flowering plantings.
The overall plan of the Shalimar Bagh echoed palace architecture with a hierarchal division from the public sphere (the lowest part of the garden) to the middle section for the Emperor and his friends. The highest part of the garden was reserved for the Empress and ladies of the court. It was here that the Black Pavillion, crowned by its tripartite roof ,was surrounded by basins issuing numerous fountains. Lamps in niches illuminating the scene at night created a scintillating atmosphere. The Shalimar bagh was renown for its flowers, and Jahangir’s court painter Nadri al Asi painted exquisite depictions of kashmiri flowers such as the rose, jamine and champa.
After the collapse of the Mughal dynasty, the allure and romance of the Shalimar Bagh held the British Raj in it’s thrall. Glimpsed from houseboats on lake dal, the gardens were once again celebrated in verse:
- Pale hands I loved beside the Shalimar,
- Where are you now? Who lies beneath your spell?
- Whom do you lead on Rapture’s roadway, far,
- Before you agonise them in farewell?
- Oh, pale dispensers of my Joys and Pains,
- Holding the doors of Heaven and of Hell,
- How the hot blood rushed wildly through the veins
- Beneath your touch, until you waved farewell.
- Pale hands, pink tipped, like Lotus buds that float
- On those cool waters where we used to dwell,
- I would have rather felt you round my throat,
- Crushing out life, than waving me farewell!
Amy Woodforde-Finden, 1901
Wow that is beautiful!! I always enjoy your pictures(-:
Comment by cindee — 12. June 2008 @ 16:45
I adore the Paradise Gardens, there is so much symbolic allegory involved too. Not unlike that Hortus Conclusus that followed, but obviously a different faith base.
The gardens at Alhambra are high on my list of must see before I die list. I am visiting another this coming weekend. Vita Sackville-West’s Sissinghurt. I have Hidcote and Kiftgate inked in for July!
What gardens are at the top of your list?
Zoë
Comment by Zoë — 12. June 2008 @ 22:13
Hi Zoe! Thanks for your comments. I love your blog. I am so much looking forward to hearing about your visits! This 21 of July the garden conservancy is having their Marin open garden tour. I am looking forward to that. The garden conservancy asked if they could use one of my pictures on their website. Naturally I said YES!!! they used the one I did on Brandon Tyson in Sausalito. the Hottem garden is on the tour. There are so many garden out there in the world I would love to see. I appreciate any effort people do, however. For me it is the spirit of the people involved which really gets to me. There are so many posts I have in my head I am planning to do. I have not even shown my own garden yet! I focused this season on a meadow effect with lots of poppies( went crazy with shirly poppies and apricot, purple! white california varieties) punctuated with old fashioned flowers like hollyhocks, bachelor buttons, love in mist, lupines and larkspur. It has been a lot of fun to recreate plant lists popular early in the 20th century, such as Celia Thaxters garden. anyway, it is all very informal but great fun.
Best regards, Zoe
Philip
Comment by admin — 13. June 2008 @ 17:56
Thanks, Cindee! I enjoy your creative spirit. I especially love the cakepan flowers!
Comment by admin — 13. June 2008 @ 17:59
Oh, what a wonderful love poem. ::sigh:: Such exquisite photos — how wonderful to be able to experience these gardens through your eyes.
Comment by Nancy Bond — 15. June 2008 @ 04:29
Philip, once again you made a visit to your blog a distinct “vacation” and a learning experience. Dude, I love how you go about this, finding these oh-so exotic places and giving them to us with their histories. Once again, utterly fascinating and thank you!
Comment by Steve — 24. June 2008 @ 02:39
Steve, Thank you for your comments! I have a number of posts I am hoping to put up soon. I mistakenly deleted some, so I am in the process of reconstructing them.
Best,
Philip
Comment by admin — 25. June 2008 @ 18:26