CONRAD DIAS
Ranchi, March 22: Jharkhand Raj Bhawan which is themed on British style of architecture was built in 1931. Its gardens are named after famous personalities and have different varieties of seasonal flowers, herbal and medicinal plants, and rare species of trees.
Abdus Salam, the caretaker and gardener at Raj Bhawan has been taking care of the garden since 1984. He said that they have a wide array of flowers this year and all of it has been brought from Bengaluru.
“There are around 40 different wide varieties of flowers in the garden. To name a few they are Marigold, Hibiscus, Pansy, Dahlia, Salvia, Bougainvillea, Frangipani, Jasmine, Zinnia and 17 different types of Roses. There are a total of 18 gardens in the premises of Raj Bhavan which are Ashok Udhyan, Akbar Udhyan, Buddha Udhyan, Neeru Udhyan, Moti Garden Udhyan, etc.,” he said.
Ashoka Udhyan, which is the main lawn, has around hundred varieties of roses. Buddha Garden has a beautiful landscape and a greenhouse. Akbar Garden is known for its musical fountains which are called the Jawahar Phuhaars. A Lily pond, present in the backyard of the main building, is often used by the governor for his evening walk.
Notably, Raj Bhawan has reopened its gardens for the public after a gap of two years due to covid-19. It will remain open from March 21 to 27. On March 21, a total of around 2500 people visited the garden to spend time at the sprawling green lungs with their friends and family as part of the annual affair.
One of the officers on special duty (OSD) at Raj Bhawan,Ranjeet Kumar Mahto, said that the garden was supposed to be opened in February for a week but it could not happen due to the increasing number of covid cases in Ranchi.
“Around 5000 people have visited the garden today and by evening more people are expected to visit. The garden was completely closed for two years and it was not being managed by anyone. Usually the park is opened every year in February but this year it could not happen due to the fear of covid,” he said.
He added that as summer has almost arrived in the city, chances are that in the coming few days less people would attend the garden as there is less shade.
“We have availability of drinking water everywhere in the garden but due to the scorching heat people are leaving the garden in 10 to 15 minutes,” he added.
