Gardens

Gardens are not new in India. The words udyāna, vātikā and nandana (garden) appear in the Ṛigveda, the Mahābhārata and the Rāmāyaṇa.

Traditional Indian gardens were often built around temples, with a pond or tank.

The Mughals brought a new design from Persia: the charbagh.

Char means four. A charbagh is divided into four parts by water channels that cross in the middle. The gardens and waterways stand for the rivers of Paradise described in the Qur'an.

Mughal gardens had:

• water channels;
• fountains;
• terraces (flat levels, like big steps).

Notice that the layout has a meaning. The pattern is a picture of Paradise, laid out on the ground.

Such gardens were made around forts, tombs and mosques, and many survive:

• the Mughal Gardens at Rashtrapati Bhawan, Delhi;
• Nishat Bagh in Srinagar, made in the early 17th century with terraces, waterfalls and small canals.

The ideas travelled the other way too. Some 17th-century gardens, such as those at Amer Fort in Jaipur, used Mughal geometric patterns, with water channels for both watering plants and beauty.

What is special about this period: local styles grew from the patron's taste, local traditions and materials, and the skill of the craftsmen.