Shafat Bukhari
The garden in the foothills of Zabarwan Range has a total of 1.5 million tulips and its opening marks the beginning of a new tourism season in Kashmir Valley.
Formerly known as Siraj Bagh, the Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip garden was opened in 2008 by the then Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad. The idea of the garden was conceived to advance the tourism season in the Valley by two months.
The average life span of the tulip flower is three to four weeks but heavy rains or too much of heat can destroy them.