Gardens | Karmayog

Gardens of Mumbai (5):

1. Hanging Gardens –

Also known as Pherozeshah Mehta Gardens, the Hanging Gardens were built in 1880 and renovated in 1921. These gardens are popularly known as Hanging Gardens, because of their location on the slope of a hill. The terrace garden looks south from Malabar Hill towards Colaba, and affords a panoramic view of the city or a breathtaking sunset. It is built over three reservoirs, which store 30 million gallons of water pumped here for cleaning before being supplied to the town.

2. Sanjay Gandhi National Park –

This large protected area of forested hills on Mumbai’s northern outskirts is best known for the 109 Kanheri Caves which line the side of a rocky ravine in the centre of the park. They were used by Buddhist monks between the 2nd and 9th centuries as viharas (monasteries) and chaityas (temples). The most impressive is cave 3, the Great Chaitya Cave, which has a long colonnade of pillars and a 5m (16ft) high dagoba (pagoda) at the back of the cave. There’s also a Lion Safari Park inside the park.

3. Balodyan Gardens –

Balodyan Gardens are located near the charni road station in Mumbai. The honourable president of India Dr.Rajendra Prasad inaugurated these gardens on 24th February 1952, for encouraging and developing creativity in children. Only children and ladies are allowed into this garden. The garden is open on all days from 8.00 am to 12.00 noon and 4.00 pm to 7.00 pm.

4. Jijamata Udyan Zoo –

Jijamata Udyan Zoo Rani Jijamata Udyan Victoria Gardens, laid out in 1861 houses the Mumbai’s Zoo. It houses many of the rare and endangered species of animals and birds. The gardens are spread over 48 acres in Byculla, on the central side of Mumbai, surrounded by low income housing colonies or “Chawls”. At the main entrance to the gardens is a clock tower, reminiscent of Italian renaissance, but the clock has stopped ticking a long time ago. The gardens boast of scores of trees, some of which are really old. Within the gardens is the Albert museum that houses a host of local archaeological finds among which merits a huge stone elephant at the entrance, which was found in 1864 at Gharapuri Island .

5. Kamala Nehru Park –

At the top of Mumbai’s Malabar Hill where the elite have built their plush modern palaces is Kamala Nehru Park, the hangout of the bourgeois middle class. It has little to offer by way of entertainment, apart from a “Old Woman’s Shoe” relegated to a distant corner, but the view of the city is spectacular and unmissable. For most Mumbaiites, Kamala Nehru Park is to Mumbai what the Eiffel Tower is to Paris — a vantage point that casts a proud eye on the entire city.