The Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation will construct a special garden of fragrance for differently-abled persons at the Garden of Five Senses in Said-ul-Ajab here and this special garden would also have a number of herbal trees.
This was announced by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit at the inauguration of the three-day 23rd Garden Tourism Festival at the Garden of Five Senses. The festival has this time been organised on the theme “Commonwealth Games 2010: Green Delhi Welcomes You”.
Speaking on the occasion, Ms. Dikshit said Delhi, one of the greenest cities in the world, looks its best when flowers are in full bloom and when the temperature is moderate.
Specially designed theme gardens have been set up at the festival for exhibiting plants and flowers. Combining aesthetics with comfort and functionality, the theme gardens with their collection of native plants, colourful flower beds, enchanting roses, bulbous plants in the midst of lush green lawns, flowering shrubs and quite a few spectacular plants have been laid out in such a way that they give a number of ideas on landscaping to visitors.
According to DTTDC, the Garden Tourism Festival will show how gardens of almost all sizes can be created with judicious selection of all kinds of plants and interesting leaves that may vary from dark green to silver so that every part of it remains interesting.
The annual festival is held over the 20 acre Garden of Five Senses and brings together colour, fragrance, texture and form to create an unusual space. Being close to the Mehrauli heritage area adds to the value of the venue,
While this is the eighth festival to be organised at Said-ul-Ajab, Delhi Tourism has been organising the festival for the past 22 years and in 1988. The first festival was held at a DDA Park in Greater Kailash.
DTTDC Managing Director Reena Ray said the annual festival was a great platform for garden lovers to meet, interact and showcase their fruit of labour. She said competitions in 32 categories, such as potted plants, dahlia pot plants, hanging baskets, foliage plants, cactus and succulents, have been organised as part of the event. All the exhibits would be evaluated by judges from respective areas of horticulture.
The festival would also witness a number of cultural activities. On the opening day, there will be a cultural programme by Sahitya Kala Parishad in the evening. An on-the-spot painting competition for children, magic show and cultural programme by Hindi Akademi have been scheduled on the second day. And on the final day a magic show and a culture program by Punjabi Akademi and prize distribution have been lined up.
The festival would remain open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on all three days and the tickets have been priced at Rs.15 for adults, and Rs.10 each for children and senior citizens. Entry would be free for physically handicapped persons.
