The iconic gardens at Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi – which was previously known as Mughal Gardens – will now be renamed “Amrit Udyan”. President Draupadi Murmu gave the new name as part of the “Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav” festivities to commemorate 75 years of India’s independence, according to Navika Gupta, the President’s deputy press secretary. She also stated that the gardens would be accessible to the public on Sunday and will be open for nearly two months this time – from January 31 to March 26. Aside from that, she said, a few days have been set aside specifically for differently-abled persons, farmers, and women.
The official website of the Rashtrapati Bhavan provides current information on Amrit Udyan. “Spread over a large stretch of 15 acres, Amrit Udyan has often been regarded, and appropriately so, as the soul of the Presidential Palace. The Amrit Udyan is inspired by the Mughal Gardens of Jammu and Kashmir, the gardens surrounding the Taj Mahal, and even tiny artworks from India and Persia,” it says.
“Sir Edwin Lutyens had finalized the plans of the Amrit Udyan as early as 1917, but, it was only during the years 1928-1929 those plantings were done. “Director of Horticulture, William Mustoe, was his collaborator for the gardens,” it adds. “Sir Lutyens brought together two separate horticulture traditions for the gardens, the Mughal style, and the English flower garden, much as the Rashtrapati Bhavan building has two different architectural styles, Indian and Western. Mughal waterways, terraces, and flowering shrubs merge seamlessly with European flowerbeds, lawns, and privacy fences.”
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra praised the Narendra Modi government’s “historic move,” saying it was necessary to “break out of the ‘slavery mentality'” in ‘Amrit Kal’ (golden era). “Another historic decision of the Modi government… The Mughal Garden of Rashtrapati Bhavan will now be called Amrit Udyan,” he tweeted in Hindi.
Many other BJP officials welcomed the government for changing the name. “Slavery’s symbol has been abolished! To break free from the ‘slavery mentality’ in ‘Amritkal,’ another historic action of the Modi government…(sic), “Devesh Kumar, a BJP MP, tweeted.
