We started our second stint of NCR-living with a good stroll of the Lodhi Gardens a couple of weeks ago. A green oasis in these times of non-stop concretisation everywhere else, we have, all over again, fallen in love with Lodhi gardens. For, it takes you back to the basics – greenery. Acres and acres of it. Cladded with strong history, it makes for a compelling stop-see-soak-savour day. Yes, you can spend an entire day here…and still not have enough of it……
First, you are smitten by the greenery around you. As I said, like an oasis, and once deep inside the gardens, you feel the outside, concrete world doesn’t exist. Literally. It is heartening to see how well the garden is maintained, with beds of seasonal flowers everywhere, groves of very old trees, a lotus-pond teeming with multi-coloured lotuses, an adjacent pond that has swans. In summers, laburnums and gulmohars sets the garden on fire; in winters, the dainty chirusias bring colour to the fog-filled skyline. No way the place won’t make a firm place in your heart….
And then the history of the place will stop you. Find here the tombs of Sikandar Lodhi and Mohammad Shah, rulers of North India in the 15th-16th century. Then there are the Bada Gumbad and Shish Gumbad facing each other alongside a mosque. Walking around the premises of these monuments, reading about the rulers and the noble families transport you through time…..
The herbal garden bowled me over! Yes, dear gardening enthusiasts, in case you didn’t know, Lodhi Garden has a nice patch of herbs in one enclosed corner, well labelled so that you know which is which. From a wide variety of basils to the common place aloeveras to chirota to mint, you will find quite a variety here. I absolutely love strolling through, matching the plants with their names and trying to memorise their uses…
Allow the birds to excite you. Owing to the vast spread of trees, quite a variety of birds call Lodhi Gardens their home, and just how much you envy them! Come over, with your kids, in the morning and have a wonderful time trying to capture them all in your camera…
There is a designated Yoga ground too. Sandwiched between the Herbal Garden and the Bada Gumbad, the yoga ground would be such a wonderful way to start the day only if we stayed close by.
And winters call for a picnic at Lodhi Gardens! A picnic basket, a book, a mat in the sun of the Lodhi Garden grounds are all that i need for a perfect day. The daughter and the father carry their badminton kit, and I might just be kicked for a game or two….
Should you too go for a picnic, ensure, you bring the food wrappers, fruit peels back home. It is a beautiful garden….let do our bit to keep it beautiful…
