KOTTARAKARA COLLEGE ART MEMBERS VISITED PINJORE GARDEN

PINJORE GARDEN

                  St. Gregorios College ART ( Association of Retired Teachers) members visited pinjore garden on 26th April,2014. The team includes forty members. Pinjore Gardens (also known as Pinjor Gardens or Yadavindra Gardens) is located in Pinjore, Panchkula district in the state of Haryana. It is an example of the Mughal Gardens style, and was built by Patiala Dynasty Rulers.The garden is in the village of Pinjore lie 22 km from Chandigarh on the Ambala-Shimla road. It was created in the 17th century by architect Nawab Fidai Khan during the early reign of his foster brother Aurangzeb (r. 1658-1707).. In recent times, it has been renamed as 'Yadavindra Garden' in the memory of Maharaja Yadavindra Singh of the former princely state of പട്യാല.After it was initially built by Fidai Khan, the garden was refurbished by Yadevendra Singh and restored to its former spledour, since it had grown into a wild jungle after initially built due to long years of neglectThe garden has been laid in seven terraces with the main gate of the garden opening into the highest first terrace which has a palace built in Rajasthani–Mughal style. It is called the “Shish Mahal” (palace of glass), which is adjoined by a romantic "Hawa Mahal" (airy Palace). The second terrace with arched doorways has the "Rang Mahal" (painted palace). The third terrace has cypress trees and flowerbeds leading to dense groves of fruit trees. The next terrace has the "Jal Mahal" (palace of water) with a square fountain bed and a platform to relax. Fountains and tree groves are provided in the next terrace. The lowermost terrace has an open-air theatre,which is designed as a disc-like structure. A zoo adjoins the gardensThe garden and the temple complex laid in an open air museum are integrated through well laid out and well drained (to remove any water logging) pathways and the whole complex has been beautifully illuminated. A heritage train has been introduced to visit all the monuments and the gardens in the complex10] Special festivals such as the Baisakhi (spring) festival in April and the Mango festival in June and July are major attractions at the gardens.C.M. Villiers-Stuart, who resided in the gardens for a time, included a description in her book on "Gardens of the Great Mughals" (1913). She wrote:

Pinjore, where the Bhimadevi temple complex is located, is approachable by road, rail and air from all parts of the country. It is well connected with Chandigargh, which is the capital region of both Haryana and Punjab states, at a road distance of 20 kilometres (12 mi). Chandigarh is a Union Territory administered by the Government of India. It is 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from Kalka, on the road to Shimla.

Prof. John Kurakar