Sir Edwin Lutyens was the designer
behind the building and the gardens.
Lutyens’ original idea was to lay down two
separate gardens, one for the Viceroy and the
other for the public.
However, he ended up designing the Mughal Garden
for Lady Harding.
After carefully studying the Persian and Indian
miniatures as well as the gardens at Taj Mahal
in Agra and Shalimar Gardens in Lahore and Srinagar,
Lutyens combined the formal Mughal style with
that of an English garden.
The gardens are a beautiful blend of Mughal canals
and terraces at different levels and European
flower beds, lawns and privet hedges. |
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W. R. Mustoe, O.B.E of the Horticultural
Department was responsible for all the planting done
in the gardens in the initial years. With his help,
Lutyens was able to transform a desert into an oasis
by 1929, when the building was ready for occupation.
The Garden's Features
The gardens comprise three parts: the first is the
'Rectangular Garden' immediately behind the main building.
The second is the 'Long Garden', which leads on to the
third section – the 'Circular Garden'.
Lutyens combined the soft English borders, small flower
beds and lawns to produce a virtual paradise. The skeleton
is formed of four waterways, two north to south and
two running from square basins immediately below the
windows of the main house. In these basins and at the
four intersections are the unique fountains consisting
of three-tiers of huge red-sandstone discs that draw
inspiration from lotus leaves.
The slotted margins of the lotus leaves direct the
water flow from step to step in alternating falls. From
the four waterways a network of lesser channels extend
to other areas. The waterways are patterned with red-sandstone
edges and plots of lawns alternating with chequered
flower beds – creating a wonderfully landscaped
garden.
The garden spreads westwards from the Rectangular Garden
to the Circular Garden through the Long Garden, which
is the only part of the garden with no water channels.
Over here, Lutyens designed a delightful Pergola, on
which bougainvillaea creepers grow. On the sides, it
has separate beds of roses with small trimmed hedges
of Ingadulets, creating an effect of coloured knots
on a vast carpet.
The gardens end quite simply in the round pool in the
middle of a sunken circle. Around the pool are massed
segmental and tiered flower beds attracting butterflies.
This part is the Circular Garden, also called Pearl
Garden and Butterfly Garden. |
