The Rich Heritage of Landscaping in India: from 'vanas' to Green Cities (original) (raw)

Abstract

Gardens have been in existence for a long time and evolved over time. The oldest types of garden were probably the "forest garden" of the prehistoric period. The 'Agni Purana', written about 4000 years ago, mentions that human should protect trees to have material gains and religious blessings. In India, the history of gardening dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization, which flourished between 2500 BCE and 1500 BCE. The Aryan's epics (Ramayana and Mahabharata) of the vedic period have also reference to palaces which had beautiful gardens, trees, flowers, fruits and lakes filled with lotus flowers. During the Buddhist period, the gardens were commonly called as 'vana'. The great emperor Asoka (273-232 BC), developed arboriculture as well as avenue plantation in his time. During the Gupta dynasty, Kalidas (about 57 BC) had written a famous play 'Shakuntala' in which there is a mention of pleasure garden, whereas, 'Amarakosha' a thesaurus of Sanskrit considered as encyclopedia of nature, which covers investigation of plants and gardens, was also written by scholar Amarasimha. The Chola Dynasty was also fascinated towards gardens and flowers and made gardens around their palaces. In Acharya Sarngadhara 's Sarngadhara-Paddhati (1300 AD), a whole chapter is dedicated to 'The Upavana-Vinoda', a sanskrit treatise on Arbori-Horticulture. With the arrivals of Mughal rulers in India, Mughal garden in formal style of gardening was introduced. Some of the magnificent formal gardens viz., Aram Bagh, Nasim Bagh, Shalimar gardens were created. Apart from Mughals, other major contribution was from Firoz Shah Tughlaq who developed gardens around Delhi and also Sher Shah Suri, who planted avenue trees on both sides of Grant trunk road made by him. The Rajput kings were also great admirer of gardens. King Man Singh began the famous garden at Amber Fort which was later finished by Jai Singh II (1699-1743 A.D.). Raja Abhai Singh (1724-1749 A.D.) designed The Mandor garden near Jodhpur whereas Suraj Mal built the garden palace at Deeg, Rajasthan, which had fountains and also water courses. At Orchha (in Madhya Pradesh), The Rai Praveen Mahal overlooks the large garden i.e. Anand Mahal Bagh. The Ahhichatragarh Fort (Nagpur) also had beautiful garden with lotus pools and water tanks. The long history of gardens and aesthetic sense which evolved later during the British India and after independence particularly evolving of green cities in modern India has been compiled in this paper.

Figures (2)

Similarly, in the Mahabharata's ‘Sabha Parva’, detailed descriptions of the pleasure gardens, parks, and lakes surrounding the palaces in Indraprastha region of their kingdom are given. Some of the common plants mentioned are Lotus (Nelumbo nucifera), Ashoka (Saraca indica), Amaltas (Cassia fistula), Champa (Michelia champaca), Mango (Mangifera indica). Special mention is of Kadamba (Anthocephalus cadamba) tree, which is closely associated with Lord Krishna's life and also of Parijat (Nyctanthes arbor-tristis). Actually, the Pandavas were moved to Khandavaprastha which was in a desert. They beautified the place as a second heaven where a number of beautiful gardens were constructed around the city with several trees bearing fruits and flowers (Tatavarthy et al., 2017). The next major civilization in India after the decline of the Indus Valley Civilization by 1400 BC was the Vedic civilization (1500 BC and 600 BC). The Aryans of the Vedic age were notable people and known for the four Vedas viz., Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yazur Veda and Atharva Veda. They were fond of trees and flowers. Lotus has special mention in the Vedic Sanskrit scriptures. The Atharva Veda and Rig Veda have mention of the Ashvattha tree, the Peepal (Ficus religiosa) tree having attractive foliage. The Aryan’s epics (Ramayana and Mahabharata) have also reference to palaces which had beautiful gardens, trees, flowers, fruits and lakes filled with lotus flowers. Plant diversity has been discussed in detail in the Valmiki’s Ramayana which has mention of about 182 plant species (Murugesan, 2014). The Bala kanda in Ramayana mentions forests and plants of the region, whereas, Kishkinda kanda discusses the forest and biodiversity of the Pampa lake area and the Aranya kanda describes the foliage in the Sage Agasthya’s shelter. The name ‘Asokavana’ where Sita (wife of king Rama) was kept captive by the king Ravana, derives its name from the Ashoka (Saraca indica) trees itself. Some of the trees and flowers which have been mentioned in this epic are:

However, before the Mughals arrived in India, Firoz Shah Tughlaq (1351-1388 A.D.) had developed about twelve hundred gardens around Delhi and also made canals. Sher Shah Suri (1540-1544 A.D.), who after defeating Babur ruled briefly in India made a significant contribution by building the Grand Trunk Road (GT Road) and planting avenue trees on both sides. Another significant contribution is from the last Nawab of Oudh, Wajid Ali Shah (1847-1856 A.D.), who founded the Sikandar Bagh which is now the National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI), Lucknow. Famous Gardens made by Mughals in India

Loading Preview

Sorry, preview is currently unavailable. You can download the paper by clicking the button above.