Nishat Bagh

The Nishat Bagh in near Kashmir's Dal lake is a 12 terraced garden filled with endearing flowers and beautiful trees. It is the second largest Mughal garden in the Kashmir Valley after Shalimar Bagh. It has a splendid Mughal central water channel with several fountains, which is surrounded by tall Chinar trees. The Bagh was designed and built in 1633 by Asif Khan, who was the elder brother of Nur Jehan. With the Zabarwan Mountains as its backdrop, Nishat Bagh is a garden of bliss that overlooks the lake beneath the snow-covered Pir Panjal mountain range to the west of the valley. The garden is very photogenic and attracts a lot of young couples and families.

Even though the layout of Nishat Bagh was based on the design of the Persian gardens, the actual landscaping of the garden was done in accordance with the terrain and water patterns unique to Kashmir Valley. The garden is sprawled over a vast area that gently ascends as one moves towards the interior of the garden.

A stream of standstill water divides the garden into two halves, and each level of the garden is marked by a raised embankment which has its collection of kaleidoscopic flowers waiting to be photographed. Lush green grass carpets the garden floor which is embellished with flowers of all conceivable colours and trees such as chinar, Cyprus and almond. You can catch a magnificent view of the Dal Lake as it looks over the sublime view of the Kashmir Valley. Today the Nishat garden is one of the historic and popular destinations of Srinagar valley.