President Droupadi Murmu attends opening of ‘Amrit Udyan’, gardens to open for general public on Jan 31

New Delhi: President Droupadi Murmu opened the ‘Amrit Udyan’, the gardens of Rashtrapati Bhavan. On January 28, the President renamed the Mughal Gardens and other gardens of Rashtrapati Bhavan as ‘Amrit Udyan’. The gardens will open for the viewing of the general public on January 31 and till March 26.

Delhi | President Droupadi Murmu attends the opening of ‘Amrit Udyan’, the gardens of Rashtrapati Bhavan

The Gardens will open for the general public on January 31 and will remain open till March 26, 2023. pic.twitter.com/S8q5Ei46vt

— ANI (@ANI) January 29, 2023

Celebrating ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’, the gardens were renamed Amrit Udyan. From March 28-31, the gardens will be open for farmers on March 28, for differently abled people on March 29, for personnel of the Defence Forces, Paramilitary Forces, and Police on March 30, and for women including tribal women’s SHGs on March 31.

About Amrit Udyan

The Amrit Udyan is inspired by the Mughal Gardens of Jammu and Kashmir, the gardens around the Taj Mahal and miniature paintings of India and Persia. Sir Edwin Lutyens designed the gardens in 1917 and the planting was done in 1928-29. The garden portrays the Mughals and the English style of architecture.

The gardens have 159 varieties of roses, even named after personalities like Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru, Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Mother Teresa, Christian Dior and others.

Over time, Presidents have contributed to the gardens in their own ways for social or developmental works. C. Rajagopalachari, the first Indian resident of Rashtrapati Bhavan, used some land to cultivate wheat, President APJ Abdul Kalam made the Herbal Gardens and Tactile Gardens for the visually handicapped, and others.

The renaming controversy

The BJP government termed it as breaking the shackles of the colonial and the slave mindset and renamed the Rashtrapati Bhavan’s historical gardens. Opposing the move, Congress leader Harish Rawat said that changing the name would not change history. He added that the Mughals were aggressors but they did start new traditions to strengthen the social history of the nation.